Patience
by ShortLittleHippie
Summary: Outdated/non-canon DL fluffy goodness! Smutty, but also funny and sometimes sweet. A post-Love Run Cold Season 3 relationship story, ignoring more recent seasons. FINALLY FINISHED after being neglected horribly.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Way back in Season 3 there was an episode called "Love Runs Cold," where Danny and Lindsay were supposed to go on a date, she stands him up (despite "liking him…a lot"), and that's it between D&L for a time. I of course did not approve, and wrote this to get these two together. It's set right after the end of that episode. So it is VERY AU— it diverges from the actual D&L storyline as of the 3rd episode of the 3rd season.

Basically, what I'm saying is there are no spoilers & probably massive confusion regarding diverging timelines. There is also smut & profanity. Also not much 'plot'- it's mostly just a fluffy story.

I can assure you that while Chapter 1 wasn't the highlight of my writing career, by the end of the story people did seem to like it. So I'd ask you to give me a little leeway, if you don't mind!

(PS: Italics = inner monologue.)

* * *

Chapter 1:

Danny sat on a bench in the hall of the station, the last 10 minutes replaying in his mind over and over again…

_Shit, not what I was expecting at all. Does she really like me- a lot? I mean, maybe she was just saying that to cushion the blow. That'd be something she'd do, she's such a sweetheart… No, I really don't see Montana as lying to me, even if it was to make me feel better. She might keep secrets but she doesn't flat out lie… no, there really must be something she needs to think about. Dammit. What kind of baggage keeps you out of a relationship? Oh god, what if she was raped in high school or something and so she doesn't date and here I am pushing her. Stupid STUPID Danny… You're a jackass. An insensitive jackass._He let out a loud sigh and buried his head in his hands as his train of thought continued down this self-flagellation track.

Lindsay saw him sitting there from her hiding spot around the corner. _Monroe, look at the guy. He looks utterly dejected. The least you can do is give him an explanation._Although she really didn't want to have to face him, she felt too guilty not to. _He looks like someone died- I had no idea that he'd take it so badly. Surely Danny Messer doesn't go to pieces over being rejected by a woman? I mean, he can have almost anybody he wants..._Taking a deep breath, she braced herself and walked over to where he was sitting.

Danny looked up when she sat down next to him on the bench, but Lindsay couldn't bring herself to look at him yet. Instead, she stared intently at her hands, which were fidgeting in her lap. After a few awkward moments of silence, she finally blurted out, "Danny, why did you become a CSI?"

Danny blinked. _Ok, really not what I thought she was going to say. Where did that come from?_He stared confusedly for a moment at her, and then answered slowly. "I suppose I wanted to make up for some of the bad that my family does."

She nodded at his response to indicate she understood, but she still didn't look at him. Several more silent minutes passed. Finally, she breathed in and started to speak rapidly. "When I was a sophomore in college, there was this really cute senior who was chasing after me. He must have asked me out two dozen times or something. At first I thought he was just a sleazy upperclassman or something, and then later I was just too busy- I was majoring in chemistry and in this sorority. Anyway, he was really persistent. He kept asking me out, telling me once I got to know him I'd know we were meant to be together. After an entire semester, I finally caved and let him take me to dinner. I guess I was curious as to why he didn't give up or something… So he was right. As soon as I got to know him, I realized how great we he was. I fell in love with him on our first date, he told me later he'd fallen in love with me the first time he saw me. He said that fate wanted us to be together, and who were we to get in the way of fate?" She smiled at this memory- he'd jokingly told her it was very arrogant of her, as a mere mortal, to try and mess up the universe's plan. "We'd only been dating for 6 months, but things were pretty serious. Again, destiny, right? Then one day I got this phone call…" She stopped for a moment, her eyes glistening, her breath more rapid. "I thought it was Tom, because we were going away for the weekend on a skiing trip and I was waiting for him to pick me up. But it was the police, calling me to tell me that Tom had been killed." She stopped again, the tears now running down her face. Danny rummaged through his pockets, came up with a tissue, and silently handed it to her.

"I figured it had to have been an accident of some kind, right? But when I got to the station, they told me it wasn't an accident… he'd been attacked in the street on his way home from somewhere, his body left in an alley." She wanted to start crying but she knew if she did she'd never finish the story. Instead, she took a couple of deep breaths and continued. "They figured out that he'd been at the jewelry store, buying a diamond ring…" here she couldn't help but let out a tiny sob "and that some kids had followed him when he left the store. They jumped him and dragged him into the alley, and kicked him and stomped on him. They robbed him and left him there to die." Lindsay paused for few minutes and let the tears come. It was still so painful to think about. Danny winced at the sight of her in so much pain but didn't know what to do— considering the circumstances, it might be inappropriate to hug her. He awkwardly patted her on the knee, the kind of thing he'd do with Flack.

"They caught the kids and even though they'd already pawned the ring they could prove it was them from their shoe prints. I felt such a sense of relief in knowing that these monsters who had destroyed my happiness weren't going to hurt anyone else, so I decided that I wanted to do the same thing. I transferred schools and switched majors. I got a job in Montana right out of school, but after a few years I needed to get out of there. There were just too many painful memories and everywhere I looked I saw reminders of the life that Tom and I had planned… we were going to have a ranch, we were going to go skiing together every winter, that kind of thing. So when the job offer from New York came I jumped at the chance to get away from those memories." She cried for a few more minutes, and Danny started to slowly rub her shoulder. He really wanted to take her in his arms and whisper in her ear that everything was ok, but he knew he couldn't do that. Everything wasn't ok, for starters. She was clearly hurting. _I wish I could take away your pain, Montana… I'd give my left leg to do it._

Lindsay's body was wracked with sobs- she couldn't hold it in any longer. Even though it was so many years ago, it still hurt so much. She finally turned and looked Danny in the face for the first time. "I know rationally that it's not my fault, but emotionally I still blame myself. If I'd never given in and gone out with Tom, he'd still be alive. We were only together for a couple of months and then he was dead. Gone forever. I haven't been in a serious relationship since then… I guess I'm afraid that if I let someone else get close to me they'll die, too." Her eyes dropped to her lap again. "Anyway, so that's why I can't be in a relationship with you Danny. I never really dealt with any of this; I just ignored it for years. But meeting you brought it all back up. I'm just not ready to be with you yet." She started to softly cry again

While Danny's heart was breaking for Lindsay and everything she'd gone through, he couldn't help but be happy at the sound of that one little word. _Yet? Oh god, that has__got__to be the most beautiful word in the English language. I still have a chance. It might take a while but hell, she's worth the wait…_

"Lindsay," he said, "I know what you mean when you say that you're afraid that people who are close to you are going to get hurt. And I completely understand that you need to be by yourself to work on this. But at least let me be your friend- I think I might be able to help. I'm kinda in a similar situation- sometimes I feel like Typhoid Danny. I mean, look at me- Louie, Aiden, even Stella and Flack. It's a crap feeling, thinking you're to blame for other people's suffering. But you gotta understand that it's not your fault. And it's not my fault. It's hard to believe but it's the truth. We aren't cursed, we're just unlucky…_Maybe we both have really bad karma or something. Man, it KILLS me to see her like this._ So whaddaya say, friends? I promise to not pressure you for anything more." _Even though I__really __want more, Montana, you're worth waiting for._He held out his hand to her, and after a moment's hesitation, she accepted it. He smiled sadly at her for a few minutes, then stood up. "Ok, one of us should get back to work. You sit her for as long as you need, ok? I'll cover for you. Really, take your time. Is there anything else I can do for you?" She shook her head silently, and he reached down and squeezed her shoulder. "It's gonna be alright, kiddo. I'm here for you." Then he walked down the hall to his office, leaving Lindsay alone with her thoughts.

Later that night, Danny was lying on his bed, his mind still racing. _Ok, Messer, time to come up with a game plan._Danny knew he was out of his element. Usually, he didn't have to put so much work into things with women. A few charming sentences and he was in, so to speak. But Lindsay was different. She liked him-a lot. He got that. She wasn't ready for a relationship. He got that too. But he was ready for a relationship. He certainly didn't get that_. Figures! You're finally ready to settle down and the one you want to settle down with ISN'T ready. Talk about luck. But no more self-pity, Messer. She's the one suffering, she's the one who deserves the sympathy. You're going to be her friend and help her move past all this to the best of your ability. Better make tracks._


	2. Chapter 2

Several months passed and Danny did everything in his power to be Lindsay's friend and help her out. The tricky thing was coming up with little things for her that wouldn't seem romantic. After all, he'd promised her he wasn't going to push for anything more. So sometimes she'd find goofy cards with corny jokes in her locker. Other times there'd be a funny comic strip or silly picture lying on her desk— her favorite was of the dachshund dressed like a dragon. On days when she seemed especially blue, sometimes there'd be a cookie or muffin for her.

He asked her to hang out after work more than he used to- always with a group, never just the two of them. Whenever he was going out to grab coffee or lunch, he'd always check to see if he could pick something up for her. It was a lot of little things, but they always seemed to brighten her day, even if it was just a little bit. On top of all of this, there was a standing offer to be a shoulder to cry on if she ever needed to talk; while she never took him up on this, it was nice to know he cared.

_What did I do to deserve Danny caring about me? _She found herself asking this question a lot. _By all rights, he should be mad at me for turning him down, but here he is bending over backwards to be my friend and make me happy. He really is a sweet guy- he doesn't deserve his "bad boy" reputation._

* * *

As trained investigators, the rest of the team noticed Danny's close attention to Lindsay. They just didn't have any idea what was going on between the pair.

"Do you think they're dating?" Stella asked Flack and Hawkes over lunch one day.

Flack thought for a minute before answering. "You know, I have no frickin' clue. On the one hand, he's been oddly attentive- I've never seen him act like that with a woman before. And he doesn't flirt with other girls when we go out for drinks- he hasn't for a looong time now, actually. And we all know he's into her." He paused to take a big bit of his sandwich, and finished his assessment with his mouth full. "On the other hand, they don't really act like a couple. And Danny definitely seems…tense a lot these days." He chuckled slightly at his last point. Danny certainly wasn't acting like a man who was in a relationship with a beautiful woman. When they played basketball or handball, he always seemed to have a lot of pent up energy to work out. Flack teased him about it once or twice, but the icy glare Danny had given him was enough to put him off that line of mocking.

Stella smiled. "Yeah, I actually had noticed the same thing. So the question is, if they aren't dating, why? They must have a good reason- they have to know they'd be great together, right?" The three of them paused for a moment, each wondering what it was that was keeping two of their friends from happiness.

* * *

Flack's observations about Danny were incredibly accurate. He was very tense. He hadn't been on a date since he broke up with what's-her-name, Cindy? way back when—at first he hadn't wanted to date anyone but Montana (even if he hadn't realized it at the time), and when it was made clear that she wasn't ready to date, he decided to wait for her. And these days he didn't even have the playful flirting with Montana he'd come to know and love. Yeah, there was friendly banter, but he was careful to make sure it never toed the line of appropriateness. He was doing everything he could to make sure he stayed firmly in the "Friend Zone."

All these factors combined meant that Danny felt like he was going through his teenage years all over again. He was changing his sheets with alarming frequency. He kept himself under control at work but once he was home, it just took a fleeting thought of Lindsay to cause an embarrassing situation in his pants that he hadn't worried about since he was 14 years old. If he wasn't a trained scientist, he'd be a little worried about his palms growing hair.

Danny knew that technically, nothing was stopping him from going out, meeting some random girl, and "blowing off some steam." But there were a number of things that kept him from doing this. To start with, he didn't want anybody else. He didn't want to settle for some easy bimbo—he wanted Montana. He also didn't want to betray Lindsay— while they weren't in a relationship in the real world, they were in his head. So Danny tried to bear his situation stoically. After all, what Lindsay was going through was much worse than his plight. _I'm horny, but she's heartbroken. Get some perspective, ya chump!_

After all, it could be much worse. She'd said "yet," which made him hope someday, they'd be together. He knew that even if she hadn't given him any clue that she's interested, he'd be doing the exact same thing as he was doing now—moping and having embarrassing dreams. At least this way he had grounds for hope. "Hope" was now his second favorite word— after "yet," of course.


	3. Chapter 3

Stella popped her head around the door to Lindsay's office. "Hey Linds, you free this Saturday?"

Lindsay looked up, a little startled. "This Saturday? The 18th?"

"Yeah, a bunch of us are gonna celebrate the conviction in the Coleman case. There's this new bar somebody recommended to me, I thought it might be fun to check it out. You in?"

Lindsay felt her mouth gaping like a fish but got a handle on herself. _It's just a coincidence._"Yeah, yeah. Of course I'll be there. What's the address?"

Saturday came, and Lindsay found her standing outside a little bar in the Village. _Well, at least this way I did something fun on my birthday for once..._She opened the door and her jaw nearly hit the floor. There was the entire team, standing under a big sign that said "Happy Birthday, Lindsay!" But what stunned her more was that they were all wearing these ridiculous little plastic cowboy hats. Even Mac. She heard them roar "SURPRISE!" and for a moment she thought she was going to cry. Nobody had every thrown her a surprise birthday before. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember the last time she had a birthday party, period.

Stella ran up to her and stuck a doofy hat on her own head. "It occurred to me that you probably hadn't had a NYC party yet and that you were due. So here you go! We've got a little western theme goin' on, too. It's why we picked this bar!" Lindsay looked around. There were pictures of mountains and cattle on the walls, and a John Wayne movie playing on the big screen TV.

"Someone get this woman a drink!" Stella cried. Hawkes obliged with some sort of orange cocktail. It had a little plastic horseshoe on the stirrer. "I think they said it's called a Cowgirl," he said.

Lindsay couldn't remember a happier, more light-hearted birthday. They played "Pin the Tail on the Jackass"- instead of spinning the blindfolded person around they had to do a shot. And where the donkey's head should have been there was a cartoon robber's face- a bit like the Hamburglar, really. She taught a bunch of them line dance: Hawkes was surprisingly good but Flack turned out to have two left feet- he literally tripped over his own feet and fell down not once, but four times.

And they had all chipped in to get her a bunch of stupid presents. She got a plastic badge that said "Deputy Monroe," a copy of "Brokeback Mountain" ("My bad," said Flack. "I could have sworn it was set in Montana. But all those big states are the same, anyway."), and a hobby horse. Sid said it was the only kind of horse that would fit in her apartment, barring those "freaky little mutant ponies." This comment warranted a strange look from the group, so he explained. "You know, those miniture horses that are the size of a dog? They're too tiny. Horses shouldn't be 2 feet tall. Damn things give me the creeps." He shuddered.

Before anyone could comment on Sid's strange phobia, Stella brought over a mountain-shaped cake but before she cut it, she called for a toast. "To Lindsay, the sweetest CSI of us all. Happy Birthday!" Everyone lifted their drink and shouted, "To Lindsay!"

"Anyone else want to make a toast?" Stella asked. Flack elbowed Danny in the gut, causing him to curse loudly. Realizing people were now looking at him, he panicked. He turned bright red, lifted his glass again, and said "We're glad you were born, Montana." This got a big "awww" from the group, which only made him more red.

Despite the fact that Lindsay was having a great time, she couldn't help but notice that Danny was acting kind of strange. He wasn't really avoiding her; he just always seemed to be standing within a big group of people so she didn't get to spend much time talking to him. _I wonder what's up with him. He's usually so friendly._But she was too busy getting tipsy to think about it too much.

* * *

The night drew to a close, and Stella wandered over to Danny. "Do you want to get our birthday girl home?" she asked with a big wink. Danny ran his fingers through his hair, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. "Um, no. Can you do it?"

"Why the hell should I? This would be a great chance for you to tell her how you feel! Birthdays are a great time for new beginnings. She's not getting any younger, which makes a woman very open to the idea of settling down, even if the guy is questionable." She gave him another exaggerated wink. Stella couldn't resist meddling- she so wanted her friends to be happy.

Danny blushed. "Um, well, actually Lindsay said a few months ago that she just wanted to be friends for now. And she's drunk, and I'm a little buzzed, and I'd hate for anything to happen that she'd regret, ya know? There's no way I'd ever take advantage of her or anything but it's better to not risk it."

Stella nodded. _Well, at least I know what's going on between the two of them. Dammit! Can't anyone have happily ever after? _"I'll get her home safe, Danny."

* * *

Stella poured a giggling Lindsay into a cab and gave the driver directions to Lindsay's apartment. "Well, birthday girl, did you have a good time?"

Lindsay had a hard time answering at first, but once she gave up on forming complete sentences she found she could communicate her thoughts well enough. "Oh def! Nicest birthday ever! Thanks!" She beamed at Stella, and then her face quickly turned to a pout. "But Danny doesn't like me anymore. He acted all funny."

Stella had to laugh at that. "Sweetie, ask me about that Monday, ok? Don't worry— it's not true. He still likes you very much."

Monday morning came, and Stella dropped by Lindsay's office again. Danny was out at a scene, so Stella sat at his desk.

"Stella, thank you SO much for the party. It really was wonderful."

Stella laughed. "I'm glad you had a good time, but I've got to come clean. I didn't throw you that party." She chuckled at the extremely confused look on Lindsay's face. "It was supposed to seem like I did, that's all. Danny planned the entire thing. Paid for it, too."

Lindsay thought her jaw was going to hit the floor. "He did? But why not tell me? And why was he acting so weird?"

"Well, he told me he didn't want people to get the wrong idea, so he wanted it to seem like I'd thrown it for you. And if he was acting weird on Saturday, it's because he was worried about something happening that you didn't want to happen." She told her what Danny had said about being careful since they were a little drunk, how he didn't want either of them to do something they'd regret. "I've never seen Danny put so much effort into not flirting with a girl. You've really changed him."

Lindsay blushed, then bit her lip as she thought about everything he'd done over the past few months. _He's so sweet. And thoughtful. _Stella left her to her thoughts. After a few minutes of contemplation, Lindsay stood up and walked over to Mac's office. "Do you have a second?" she asked him. "I've got something I need to talk to you about…"

* * *

Several more weeks passed, and Danny began to feel more hopeful. Lindsay seemed to smile more at him. She even started to flirt a little bit with him again. _Now, don't rush things Messer. You've been doing good. Keep it subtle- slow and steady wins the race._

Lindsay hadn't told Danny she knew what he'd done for her. _He wanted it to be a secret for some reason, so I'll let him keep it a secret. He probably thought I'd feel weird about it._But she didn't feel weird about it, just really touched. He'd gone to such lengths recently to be a friend, and that's exactly what she needed these days.


	4. Chapter 4

About two months after Lindsay's birthday, Danny was working a kidnapping case with Mac, Stella, and Flack. Some scumbag brandishing a gun had snatched an 8 year old girl from a park in broad daylight. He was demanding $500,000, saying if they didn't pay, he was going to dismember the kid. Unfortunately, given grotesque his criminal record, this probably was no idle threat.

Through hard work and dumb luck, they'd finally figured out where he was holding the girl.

"Son of a bitch is 2 blocks away! Either he's dumb, or cocky," groused Flack.

Mac shook his head. "I think it's worse—I think he's dumb AND cocky." They hurriedly grabbed their guns and vests and ran out to save the day.

* * *

The building—some sort of warehouse—where they'd tracked him down to had only one floor and only a few rooms, which thankfully meant there weren't too many places he could be hiding. Danny and Stella went around to the back entrance while Flack and Mac took point and went through the front. However, near the back entrance turned out to be his masterful hiding spot. Instead of creeping up behind him, Danny and Stella found themselves face to face with the perp and the victim. Faster than you'd think a drug-addled scumbag could move, the perp had grabbed the little girl and was holding his gun to her head. _SHIT, _Stella and Danny thought simultaneously as they dropped their guns.

"Hey! Let her go!" yelled Danny. "Let the kid go. Just point the gun at me! Just let her go." He kept yelling this until in his frustration, the perp pulled the gun away from the little girl's temple and pointed it at Danny's chest. As soon as he did that, Flack made a flying tackle from behind the guy. Unfortunately, the guy managed to squeeze the trigger twice before hitting the ground.

Stella had run to the little girl to check on her, so Mac hurried over to Danny, who was still standing. "You ok? You hit?"

Danny looked down. "Yeah, but in the vest. I think I'm good. Hurts, but hurts like I just got kicked by a horse, not like I got shot."

Mac breathed a sigh of relief and gave the young CSI a small smile. "Well, sit down. We'll call a bus and have them check you out." He then wandered over to see how Flack was doing with the suspect and Stella was doing with the girl.

Danny sat down on a pile of boxes directly behind him. He knew he should leave the vest on in case he was shot- it would keep the bleeding from getting too bad. Still, he was fairly confident that he wasn't hit- he wanted the damn thing off.

Once he'd removed it, he sat there staring at it for a few minutes. _Jesus. I got __shot__. _He looked more closely at where the bullets had hit him. One was right in the center of his chest, but the second one must have come as the suspect was falling. It was closer to Danny's throat- in fact, it was less than an inch away from the edge of the vest. _Damn, that was close!_He was busy contemplating the miraculous nature of Kevlar when he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

Lindsay was standing in front of him, panting heavily. Stella had called her and told her that Danny was shot but wasn't in any danger. "I ran here as soon as I heard. Oh my god, are you sure you're ok?"

Danny jumped up when she began speaking to him. He looked down at the vest he was holding in his hands, then at her face. He stared intently at her for a few minutes, not really listening to what she was saying.

"…Oh god Danny, I was so worried…oh GOD that bullet almost hit your neck. How are you feeling? Do you think you broke any ribs?..." She realized he was staring at her and not paying attention to anything that was coming out of her mouth. "Is something wrong? Are you sure you're ok? You're not in shock, right? I read that…"

Danny dropped the vest from his hands, took a step towards her, quickly murmured "Sorry," and grabbed her face in his hands. He couldn't help it. He had to kiss her. So he did. And it was incredible. Her lips were as soft as he'd imagined they'd be. It started out gentle but he couldn't contain himself for very long. Her mouth was half-open from speaking and his tongue took full advantage of this fact. He deepened the kiss, passionately attacking her lips and tongue. He was vaguely aware of her hands resting on his waist. But he wasn't thinking very clearly. He'd wanted to kiss her for so long and now he finally was. _Oh god she's amazing… I could have died without ever having done this... My god she smells incredible…Is that her moaning, or is that me?... I've never felt a kiss like this before… I __knew __Montana would taste good… Damn she's wonderful… Is someone saying my name?_

He finally pulled away from her when he felt a pair of hands tugging forcefully at the back of his shirt. "Detective Messer, we really need to check you out. You'll need an x-ray. We have to go now." Apparently, there was an impatient EMT behind him.

Danny hadn't looked away from Lindsay's face. Her mouth was half-open, and she was staring into space. _SHIT. Too much! You scared her! You jackass!_"Oh god Lindsay, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" But the EMT was pulling him away, guiding him to the ambulance. He looked over his shoulder at her- she still seemed dazed. _You blew it, Messer. Total catatonia is __not __a good reaction to a kiss! You'd been so good at not rushing her. Months of work. And now you blew it. I hope you're pleased with yourself- you got a kiss, but that's all you're gonna get._

He sat down on a stretcher in the back of the ambulance that was waiting outside the warehouse. He couldn't see her anymore, but he didn't really need to. _She's probably still staring into space. Way to go- you broke Montana._

He let out an enormous sigh, then felt a hand grab his own.

"What's wrong, Danny?" asked Stella. "I'd think you'd be pretty happy right now. You saved the little girl, you got shot and didn't die, and that was one hot kiss. I'm surprised the concrete didn't melt around your feet."

"I blew it, Stella. I wasn't supposed to pressure her. She just wanted to be friends and I blew it."

"Danny, listen to me. I don't know what the story between the two of you is, but she was definitely kissing you back. No way you blew this. She'll be waiting for you at the hospital, I guarantee it." But he was too busy sulking to really process what she was saying.

"Ma'am, we've got to get him to the ER now. He'll need x-rays- just to rule out internal bleeding or broken ribs."

Stella watched as the ambulance tore off, then turned to see Mac standing next to her. "Well, that was weird. Here I am thinking those two finally got their act together, and Danny's convinced he messed things up with Lindsay forever."

Mac smirked. "If that's considered 'messing up,' I'm intrigued at what Danny considers a success. Besides, Lindsay just asked for the rest of the day off."

"Did you give it to her?"

"Of course. I'm as sick of working with those two love-struck puppies as the rest of you."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Warning-Adult content begins in this chapter! (Enjoy!)

* * *

Lindsay wasn't waiting at the hospital. And she didn't show up while he was there. Granted, he wasn't there long. His x-rays were clear- just some bruised ribs. He was in and out in 45 minutes—NYPD express, thank you very much. Which left him free to go back to his apartment and sulk. Which he did. For two hours.

He sat there, lights off, TV off, shirt off, staring into space and nursing a beer. _Your perfect girl, even if she is different from anyone else you've ever been with. The one you were ready to settle down with. And you messed things up forever. As usual. Jackass._He let out an enormous sigh and sunk further into his couch. _Patience is a virtue. A virtue you clearly haven't got._

After a while, he heard a knock at the door. _Probably Petersen, nagging about my rent again. I put in his mailbox this morning. He should really check these things before he yells at people._"Just a second, I'm coming." He grabbed his shirt from earlier and had it halfway buttoned by the time he reached the door. He opened the door as well as his mouth to snap at his landlord when he realized it wasn't creepy little Gus Petersen standing there but pretty little Lindsay Monroe, holding some sort of casserole dish. A large canvas grocery bag sat at her feet. She looked at him, a bit sheepishly.

"Hi Danny. I thought you might like some comfort food. You haven't had dinner yet, have you?" She eyed his half-buttoned shirt, her eyes opening wide at the bandages she saw there. "Are you hurt?"

He looked down at the bandages, shrugged, and finished buttoning his shirt. "No, just bruised. I think they put these on so I'd feel like they'd accomplished something. Nothing you can do for bruised ribs besides ache." She smiled at that.

"I'm glad you're not hurt. Can I come in?" She stepped into his living room as he moved aside to let her pass. "I figured that lasagna would count as comfort food in your case. I'd never made it before so I had no idea it took so long! I wanted to pick you up from the hospital but when I called to see how you were doing you were already gone. Where's your kitchen?" She walked in the direction he pointed, setting her dish and bag on the table. "I've got lasagna, red wine, salad, and bread. Plain bread, not garlic." She blushed. Danny didn't notice.

_What the hell is going on?_ he thought._ No matter, time to apologize. Try and salvage this disaster. _He followed her into the kitchen. "Listen, Lindsay…"

She cut him off. "First of all, call me Montana. It's just weird when you say Lindsay most of the time. Second of all, if you're going to apologize again for earlier, don't. It's really not necessary. I'm glad you kissed me." She smiled at him, and his heart started to pound. _What? She's not pissed? She's not broken? What the HELL is going on?_

"Listen, I think I know what you were thinking as you were kissing me this afternoon. You were thinking that you could have died without ever having done that, right? And that was a really scary thought. I was thinking the exact same thing. When I saw you sitting there holding that vest and saw where that one bullet almost hit you, my heart was in my throat. And it occurred to me that if I was so upset about the thought of losing you, maybe I'm ready to be with you." She stepped towards him and grabbed his hand and he noticed her eyes were twinkling. "And that kiss sealed the deal. DAMN! I guess you noticed I was pretty stunned. I'd just never been kissed like that. It felt like my insides were melting or something. That's a good thing," she added, noticing the confused look on his face hadn't changed. "It was that hot, that's what I'm saying. Do you always kiss that well, or was it just a near-death kind of thing?"

He shook his head, not knowing what to say, still incredibly confused as to what was going on. _That was a good response? She liked it? Did I really hear all those good things? Maybe I'm in shock and imagining stuff._"Um, I dunno…maybe?" _Wow, __that__ was smooth…Danny Messer, lady killer. _

"Well, as a scientist, I don't mind doing adequate testing to find out." She winked at him, then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

Unbelievably, this kiss was even more intense than the one from earlier in the day. Then, there was at least 4 inches between their bodies. Now, they were pressed tightly against each other. Earlier, Lindsay had been too stunned to properly respond to Danny's actions. Now, Danny went from shocked to actively involved in what was going on in the blink of an eye. One armed wrapped around her waist, the other ran through her hair. He let out a sound of such intense happiness that it startled Lindsay, who instantly pulled back. "Oh Danny! Your ribs! I'm sorry…You're in pain and here I am attacking you."

He pulled her back towards him with a smile, murmuring, "No pain whatsoever. Attack all you want." She grinned and pushed him back out of the kitchen towards his couch. Pushing him into a sitting position, she hopped onto his lap and continued to kiss him. Despite the fact that Danny wasn't thinking clearly due to sheer joy, he was watching what he was doing to some degree. _Don't get all grabby, Messer. Watch it- don't mess things up now by being too fast._And taking his own advice, he kept his hands on her back and head. _Kissing her neck is safe though, right?_Unable to resist, he started nuzzling his face into her neck, nipping her gently with his teeth, sucking her earlobe gently. Lindsay gasped at the sensation. _Wow, this man really knows what he's doing._

She ran her fingers through his spiky hair and drew a path with her lips along his jaw line. She wanted him so badly she had a hard time focusing on anything besides him, but she managed to pant out a question lurking in the back of her mind. "Uh, Danny? You're not going to think less of me if I sleep with you without us ever really having gone on a real date, are you?"

"Hell, no!" Danny panted, still sucking her neck. _Wait, what did she just say? _He stopped what he was doing and looked her in the eyes. "Are you serious? You're sure you're ready? I don't mind waiting. I could do this and just this all day."

She smiled at him. _Would the old Danny Messer have double-checked? Or would he have just gone straight for the bra hook?_"As serious as a bullet— or two," she answered with a smirk. "Besides," she added, shifting her body so that her thigh brushed against him and felt his excitement. "I've a sneaky suspicion that you'd like to have sex with me, too. I am a trained investigator, you know."

"Very clever of you, Mizz Monroe. Then again, you had to know I've wanted to sleep with you for a very long time, if you're such a good investigator." He resumed kissing her, but now felt free to explore the parts of her body he'd so recently declared off limits. One hand reached down and caressed her ass. _Jesus._ The other hand cupped her right breast. _JESUS. I'm dyin' here. This is too good to be true. _He let out another loud moan.

Lindsay ran her hands down his chest, feeling his muscles through his shirt. _God, I can't wait to get this off him. Finally, I get to see what he looks like under those hot little tank tops. _She continued to do a thorough search of his body through his clothes for several heated minutes. She finally pulled her face away from him and took several deep breaths. "Where's your bedroom?"

He nodded his head towards the door behind him. _Shit, wait, when was the last time I changed my sheets? They're probably all messed up again. And god, there's lots of dirty clothes and towels all around. Way to be smooth, Messer._"Um, it's a little messy…" She interrupted him with a short but passionate kiss. "It's ok, Danny. I'll give you 5 minutes to clean up." She winked at him again."Where's your bathroom?" He nodded his head towards the door to the left of him. Taking a breath to give herself willpower, she stood up. "Make tracks, cowboy. 5 minutes— maybe less if I get too antsy!" He grinned at her for a second, then stood up.

_This is really happening! Hot damn! _"Ok, I'll be as quick as I can." He leaned towards her to kiss her but she backed flirtatiously away. "Move, Messer!" He jogged to his bedroom, looking over his shoulder at her as she headed towards the bathroom. _I really need to go to church this week. Somebody up there clearly likes me. I'm the luckiest guy in the world._

* * *

He stepped through his bedroom door and focused on the task at hand. _Yeah, I was right. A disaster area. _Back in the day, his bedroom was always very neat because he could reasonably expect "company" almost any night of the week. But with everything going on with Montana for the past year or so, he'd let his housekeeping majorly slack. He moved quickly, tossing heaps of clothes and towels onto his bed. When he had everything off the floor, he grabbed the corners of the sheet and wrapped it into a big ball. _Crap, this is too big for my hamper._He looked around frantically until his eyes settled on his closet. Opening the door, he shoved the enormous pile of dirty laundry into the space, grabbed a pair of clean sheets from the shelf, then used his whole body to force the closet door shut. _Hopefully I'll be washing these sheets tomorrow, too. Woo boy. _He made his bed faster than he thought was possible, then looked down at his shirt. _If Montana is gonna see me shirtless, it's going to be without those useless bandages. She'll just worry about hurting me, and I don't want her holding anything back._

He grinned again as he pulled the shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor. He quickly ripped of the gauze and tape that the hospital had put over his chest and threw it out. _Fortunately, the bruises haven't really formed yet. _He knew he was being vain but he couldn't help it- he knew that she was going to be stunning and he wanted to look good for her, too.

"Time's up," came a sultry voice from behind him. He had just finished removing his belt and turned around to face the door. Danny thought his eyes were going to shoot out of his face a la Bugs Bunny. He could have sworn his heart stopped, and he was certain he'd lost all ability to speak. Lindsay was standing in his doorway in a fire-engine red bra and panty set. The person who designed the bra deserved a Nobel Prize for what it was doing to her breasts—her cleavage was practically overflowing. And she had on those hot little boy shorts he liked so much-were those ties on the side? Best of all, she had a black cowboy hat and sexy little black cowboy boots. _What's that noise they always make in cartoons? Huminah-huminah!_

After a few more minutes of gaping like a fish at her, he realized he should say something. "You look- incredible. Whoa. I mean, WHOA."

She laughed, and tilted her hat at him. "This is for always calling me Montana and making those cracks about the country. I wanted to show you there's some good things about cowgirls." _Damn, he looks GOOD. I wonder if he knows he could probably pick up some extra money as an underwear model…_

He thought his grin was going to split his face in half. "Hey, I'll have you know I think very highly of cowgirls. Or at least one cowgirl in particular." He reached out and grabbed her, his hands caressing all the tempting exposed skin. _I knew her skin would be soft. And my god she smells incredible. And I had NO idea her breasts are that big! I mean, I've been admirin' them for a while but __this __is a shock._

She let her fingers run over his naked chest, enjoying the feel of his muscles. _He must spend all of his free time at the gym. Not that I'm complaining._"Well, Danny, I'm a little disappointed in you. Don't you know you're a little overdressed for the occasion?" She tugged at the waistband of his jeans. "I'll just have to take care of that for you." She quickly unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down. _That answers that question- boxer briefs! Been wondering that for a while._As soon as he'd stepped out of his jeans she knocked him back onto the bed behind him.

They made out for a while, groping at each other like teenagers. Finally Danny needed to stop to catch his breath. "The vest didn't stop those bullets. I must have died and gone to heaven." She gave him an incredibly sexy smile. "Well, Messer, let me reassure you that you are in fact very much alive. If you want…I could take your pulse." And she reached down his boxers to grab a part of him that was throbbing violently. "Yup, you're definitely alive." Danny gasped at the touch of her hand on him and almost came right then. _Oh no, I'm going to finish really quickly. It's just been such a long time since it's been anyone but my left hand. _"Um... Montana …"

She seemed to know what he was going to say and cut him off with a kiss. "I have big plans for tonight, Danny. I'm sure you've got lots of rounds in you. But let's get things started off with something easy, ok? I'm going to collect a sample of your DNA." Having said that, she began to path down his body with her tongue and lips. When her mouth reached its intended destination, she looked up at him and grinned, then quickly yanked off his boxers. _DNA sample? Figures that Montana talks dirty by talking shop._He chuckled softly, then groaned as he felt her tongue lick his head. _HELL Montana. Some warning would be nice!_But he couldn't really be mad at her as she started licking and sucking, making all kinds of sexy slurping sounds. _That feels so incredibly amazing. Girl's got a gift._He moaned again as her hands got involved. When Danny realized that she didn't seem to have a gag reflex, he couldn't contain himself any longer. No longer embarrassed at his speed, he just enjoyed the sensation of finishing. To his surprise, she swallowed, then licked her lips sexily as if making sure she got every last drop. He groaned again. _Dammit. If I'd had known this is the kind of lover she was going to be, I'd have never survived these past few months._

After twitching and basking in contentment for a few moments, Danny finally was able to speak again. "Wow, baby, thank you so, so much. You have no idea how many times I've dreamt about you doing that to me! And it was so, so much better than I ever imagined. Now come up here," he added, tugging on he arms. "I've got some things I've got to check out."

"Oh?" Lindsay asked. _He called me "baby." That feels good._"What kind of things, exactly?" He pulled her up so she was lying next to him and he was lying on his side looking down at her. "Well, Montana, I can't stand the suspense any longer. I've gotta see what you look like under all that red lace." He quickly unhooked her bra and gently removed it. He gasped, and let out a low whistle. _It wasn't just the bra, they ARE that big. Not that it would have mattered if she was an AA but hot damn._"You're perfect." He quickly bent to take a nipple into his mouth, first licking, then sucking, then nibbling. "Gotta check the other one, too," he added as he repeated the process with her other nipple. Meanwhile, his hand was cupping the opposite breast, enjoying the feel of her skin against his hand. He let out a contented sigh. "Ok, can scratch that off the to-do list- at least for now." He winked at her and then examined her panties. _Yeah, those ARE ties. Way to make my job easy._He deftly untied the little bows that held her boy shorts on and again gasped. "Still perfect." He quickly flipped her over so that she was lying on her stomach. He hand immediately started petting her ass. "Just as I suspected-perfect." _Wow, Montana's got quite the firm little butt. Thought so._He flipped her over again. "Two more things to check, sweetie, then it's game on." He scooted down the bed, buried his face in her wetness, and sniffed loudly, then looked up at her and smiled. "You're on a roll, Montana. Just one more thing." And before Lindsay had a chance to figure out what the last thing he had to check was, his tongue was inside her. She couldn't contain the enormous moan that came out of her as she felt his tongue lick her most sensitive area. He looked up at her again and grinned. "You even taste perfect. And allow me to say that the noises you make are perfect too, dear. Now, let's see, where was I…" and he continued what he started, making her thrash on the bed with pleasure. After a few incredible minutes, she couldn't take it any longer.

"Danny, we've got to fuck NOW. You can finish this later. But I think I'm gonna die if I don't get you in me this second." _Did I really just say that? I'm never so forward. And I never usually end oral early. But then again, I've never wanted anybody this badly! _He stopped then pushed himself up so he was kneeling over her. "Whatever my lady commands." Lindsay rolled out from under him and pulled of one boot. Danny set his glasses on the night stand and watched her happily until something dawned on him- his face fell and he yelled, "SHIT."

"What's the matter, baby?" _Did I just call __him __baby? That feels good, too._He looked at her like a little boy who'd just dropped his ice cream cone and he muttered, "I don't have any condoms." She had to laugh- Danny Messer without condoms? That would ruin his reputation at the lab—she'd heard a lab tech muse that he probably bought them in bulk at Sam's Club or Costco. "That's ok, sugar," she said as removed her second boot. She reached down into it and pulled out a string of condoms. "And if that's not enough, I've got another box in my purse," she added with a smirk.

"You're a lifesaver! What, were you a Girl Scout or something?"

"That's me, always prepared. You can never count on the guy to have these, you know. Now, who gets to be on top?"

"It doesn't matter to me, Montana. Whatever you want. I just want to be with you."

_Wow. Danny's a gentlemen. Not what I expected._"In that case, dibs!" She handed him a condom, which he quickly unwrapped and put on. She swung around so that she was on top of him. "Considering what I'm about to do to you, it's only fitting that I leave the hat on, don't you think?"

"Yippee-ki-yay, Montana!"


	6. Chapter 6

After what felt like an eternity, they finally collapsed exhausted on the bed. Lindsay's calling dibs on being on top hadn't much mattered, as it wasn't their final round. Danny got his turn to wear the cowboy hat, too.

She nestled her body against his. _That has got to be the best sex I've ever had in my life. Of course, I had pretty high expectations from Danny. But, boy, did he meet them!_

He wrapped his arms around her. _Best…sex…ever. And I suppose that's saying a lot, for me._This was the first time he'd ever slept with someone he'd had such deep feelings for, and he was amazed at how much more profound it made everything feel. He also couldn't help but be proud that he' went 3 times without pause, despite his sabbatical from sex. _Damn, it felt so good to look at her looking up at me. I liked her ridin' me like the cowgirl she is but that was just amazing._He also couldn't believe how slow and gentle he'd been- he wasn't a brute or anything but he'd never felt such a desire to take his time and enjoy every moment. Hearing her cry "Danny" would have been enough to send him over the edge, but she also felt so incredible. It was like they were a perfect fit. He kissed her shoulder and sighed happily. _Wait, what's that smell?_"Linds? Do you smell something?"

She shot out of bed. "Oh I completely forgot! I put the lasagna in the oven before we started- I figured we'd work up an appetite!" She winked at him and grabbed his shirt.

"_Che bello! _The perfect woman! I was just thinking that either sleep or food would be good about now." He grabbed his glasses, pulled on his boxers, and they ran into the kitchen.

* * *

Lindsay pulled the casserole dish out of oven while Danny set the table, then she cut the bread as he made the salad. He poured wine for each of them. _It feels nice to do this with somebody. I don't usually enjoy "domestic crap" with women but I think I could do anything happily as long as I was with her._"This smells great, baby. I'm really impressed- you never made lasagna before? That takes a lot of bravery to just dive in there."

She smiled up at him. "Well, maybe I was trying to impress you, Danny. Is it working?"

"You don't need to do anything special to impress me- you being you is incredible enough." He grabbed her hand and kissed it. _And that's not a line, that's the truth._

Her heart melted a little bit. "You are such a sweetheart Daniel Messer."

"Right back atcha, Lindsay Monroe."

The conversation lulled for a while as they both enjoyed their food, since they really were both very hungry. When they were finished refueling, Danny pulled her from her chair to his lap.

"You know, this has got to be the best lasagna I've ever had."

"You don't need to exaggerate Danny. I would never dare to try and out-cook your mother. I know that's a sacred bond in Italian families."

"Hey, I wasn't exaggerating, it's God's honest truth. But I should add my mom's Irish. My dad's side is the Italian side. So Ma's lasagna, not so great. Kick-ass corned beef, though." He laughed as she got an outraged expression on her face. "You're cute when you're mad. Anyway, this was better than Nana's- which is sayin' something. But then again, this is a very special case, isn't it?"

"How so?"

"Well, you made it for me in particular, thinking of me, with your own wonderful little hands, and we're eating it after finally making love. I think haggis would taste pretty wonderful under those circumstances." He kissed her gently, hoping that would further express how touched he was by everything she'd done. They sat there enjoying the feel of holding one another in their arms for a few moments.

"Danny, I want to thank you for everything you've done for me these past few months."

"Don't mention it- what are friends for?"

"No, I mean it- it really means a lot to me. And I know what you told Stella the night you threw me that wonderful birthday party."

Danny blushed. "I was just trying so hard not to rush you, ya know? Although that ultimately failed, I guess." He chuckled, knowing now that his lapse in judgment this afternoon hadn't ruined everything forever.

"You know, after Stella told me about the party, I went and talked to Mac for awhile about Tom. He suggested I talk to the department psychologist, because that helped him with Claire. I've been seeing her once a week since my birthday. We talked a lot about grieving and how to move on. Even if you hadn't kissed me today, I probably would have asked you out in the next couple of weeks. You just hurried me along—in a good way." She smiled at him again. "I'm really happy we're doing this, Danny. Really happy."

"I don't think I've ever been this happy in my life, Montana. It's weird- I've always been scared of relationships but this is what I want more than anything, ever."

_Good answer Danny. _"Ditto."

* * *

They moved to the couch and kept talking as they snuggled against one another. Danny promised to take her on a real date the day after next. Lindsay had slapped him lightly when he'd teasingly added, "Although I guess I don't really have to, as you already gave it up and all."

A few hours later, Lindsay looked at the clock. "Would you look at that? It's time for bed!"

Danny followed her gaze. "Linds, it's 10 o'clock. Don't tell me you're some sort of go-to-sleep-early gal."

"I said it was time for bed. Not time to sleep.

"Oh. You know, I like the way you think." He grinned wolfishly at her, then chased her into the bedroom.

Danny couldn't remember a better night's sleep. And it wasn't just because he was completely worn out. _I had no idea you could that much sex in one night._Sleeping with his arms around Montana just felt so right. For once he didn't toss and turn during the night. They both woke up in the exact same position they had fallen asleep.

Danny woke up before Lindsay and just looked at her for a while. _My god, she's beautiful. Really different from any of my other girlfriends. But so much better._She was much more genuine. He found it hard to believe he was once attracted to fake.

He quietly slipped out of bed and went to make her breakfast. Again, not normally something Danny did after spending the night with a woman, but those days were over in Danny's mind. New beginnings leave room for new behavior. _Besides, I make a mean pancake._

Lindsay awoke to the smell of coffee and Danny. _Mmm, good combo._He was leaning over her, nuzzling her neck. "Time to get up, sweetums. I made us breakfast. Then we can be environmentally responsible by taking a shower together." He grinned at her and wagged his eyebrows.

"Well, we I suppose that we can't really get away with not conserving water… but first things first, I'm starving!" She hopped out of bed and into Danny's arms. He kissed her gently and pulled her towards the kitchen. _First day of the rest of your life, Messer. You're the happiest man alive. Enjoy it._


	7. Chapter 7

Danny and Lindsay stood outside the door to the building that housed the crime lab.

"There's no sense in hiding it, Montana. They all saw me plant that big smooch on you yesterday."

"I know, Danny. It's just going to be weird, that's all. Anyway, since I doubt we're allowed to 'smooch' at work, kiss me now before we head inside. We're not at work yet."

"Aye-aye, Cap'n."

They rode the elevator up, not holding hands but standing close enough to each other that their hands were touching. They were a few minutes early, so they stopped by the break room to grab another cup of coffee. And were flabbergasted at what they saw.

There, hanging on the wall, was a giant picture of Danny kissing Lindsay yesterday at the crime scene. Across the top it read "ABOUT DAMN TIME!"

"Ah, there's our love birds!" Stella came up behind them. "You know, you should watch what you do around CSIs. Someone always has a camera ready." She smirked when she saw the two of them blush, and then walked away.

They hurried out of the break room only to run into Mac. "Just the pair I was looking for. Listen, I don't have a problem with office relationships. Don't let it interfere with the job, and keep it professional." He gave a small smile. "I'm happy for you both." With that he walked away.

* * *

Danny had rarely had as difficult a day at work. How was he supposed to focus when he was working a crime scene with Montana? Then they were in the same lab processing evidence. He was exhausted by the end of the day from the extra effort it took to keep his mind on the case.

Lindsay met him in the locker room. "Wanna come over to my place? I can order Chinese and we can watch the game." Suddenly his fatigue was gone. "Sounds great. Let's go."

They chatted comfortably as they rode the subway to Lindsay's apartment. But Danny got noticeably quiet as they entered the building and got in the elevator.

"This is me," Lindsay said outside her door. "Danny? Are you ok? You got real quiet all of a sudden…" She opened the door and before she had a chance to ask another question Danny was pulling her inside. He spun around, pressed her body against the door, locked it, and kissed her. Hard.

"No, I am not ok," he said as he pulled her towards him and spun them around. His eyes looked quickly around the apartment and he headed towards her couch. He attacked her mouth with his tongue as he struggled to unbutton her pants. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a condom, and pressed it into her hand. "Here, hold this. It has been one of the longest days ever. I can't wait another minute." He unbuttoned his own pants and pushed them down along with his underwear. He grabbed the condom from her hand and put it on. He turned her around, pulled her pants down, and went to bend her over the arm to her couch. But first he reached around to feel her. _Oh thank god. She's wet. I don't want to hurt her._"I'm sorry honey. Tell me to stop, and I will"

When a shocked Lindsay said nothing, he pushed her forwards and entered her from behind. _GOD that feels good. _Last night he was slow and gentle. He couldn't do that now. "I'm sorry baby- I'll be nice later." He grabbed her hips and thrusted. _She feels so good. And I'm such a mindless brute. _"Sorry sorry sorry…"

"Danny, shut up! Don't apologize- just fuck me harder!" She moaned loudly.

_WHAT did she just say? Done and done._He actually was holding back a little bit- he really didn't want to hurt her. _Well, she__did__ ask…_ He found himself thrusting harder, faster. And found Lindsay panting louder and louder. "Montana, I can't hold out much longer…" _Especially when you sound like that._

"HARDER DANNY!"

_HELL YEAH. Anything you say, baby._"LINDSAY!" he cried out, shuddering and collapsing on top of her.

"DANNY!" she screamed, gripping the cushion of the couch.

They lay like that for a few minutes, struggling to catch their breath.

Finally, Danny straightened out. "Nice place you got here, Montana." She laughed.

"Danny, that was…amazing." _And a first for me. I don't usually like it frantic and rough like that. But that was HOT._

"I'm sorry I didn't give you more warning baby. I just couldn't control myself." He kissed her neck then pulled out of her, surprised at how sore his thighs were. "I thought working with you would be easier after last night. You know, maybe take the edge off. It's been difficult working with you these past few months, especially since you smell so good. But now I know what you smell like EVERYWHERE and it's so much worse." He groaned, threw out the condom, and pulled his pants back up. Lindsay did the same with her own clothes.

"Seriously, anytime you want to ambush me like that Danny go right ahead. Apparently, I don't really need a lot of warning. I had like what, 30 seconds notice? And I was ready for you in that short a time." _I had no idea foreplay was optional with me. I guess Danny being Danny is foreplay enough…_

_She IS the perfect woman._"Well, hopefully that won't be necessary too often. But I have to ask you something- would you mind if I asked Mac to put us on different cases for the next 2 or 3 days? I can't focus around you right now."

She smiled at him. "I had the same problem. And you think it's only going to take 2 days for the novelty of sex with me to wear off? Harumph!"

_Damn, I guess that does sound bad._"No, I think it might take a few days for it to sink in that you're mine now and I'm yours now and we can have each other almost whenever we want." He reached out and took her hand, kissing it gently. _She's all mine…_

* * *

Later that night, they were lying on the couch watching the ballgame. _Once again, she's the perfect woman._Suddenly, Lindsay sat up. "What's today?"

"Um, Thursday?"

"What time is it?"

"Uh…9:45."

"SHIT. Where's my phone?"

"Honey? What?"

"I'm supposed to call my mother every Thursday at 9:30. Even if I'm at work. I don't have to talk long, she just likes making sure I'm alive."

"Oh. Well, I think I saw your cell on the kitchen table…"

She was already in the kitchen dialing. _She calls her mom once a week? That's cute. But then everything she does is cute._

"Hi, Momma, how are you?... How's Daddy?... Um, I'm really good, actually… Um, well, I just started seeing this guy…yeah, I guess you could call him my boyfriend." She looked up at saw Danny smirking at her. "His name's Danny…yes, the cute one who threw me the party." She blushed. Danny was grinning even wider now. "Oh I don't know Momma. We've only been going out for a couple of days…yeah I really like him…yes I'm happy…ok, tell Daddy I love him…Love you too. Talk to you next Thursday…Bye!" She hung up and headed back to the couch where Danny wrapped his arms around her. _I'm her boyfriend. And she talked to her mother about me before. Why does that make me so happy?_

"What was she asking you, Montana? You had the tone of voice I get with my mom when she starts asking about grandbabies…"

Lindsay sighed. "She was wondering if you'll be coming with when I go to Montana this August. She wasn't listening when I said we only just started going out…"

"Sure."

"Sure what?"

"Sure I'll go to Montana. Assuming Mac let's both of us have the same time off."

She laughed. "Danny, I didn't actually ask you to go with me." She laughed again when she saw his face fall. "We just started dating! And why would you want to go to Montana anyway?"

"Well, Mizz Monroe. We might have started dating yesterday but I've been into you for a long time now. I want to see where you come from. I want to meet the people who raised you. I want to know what makes 'Montana' Montana. The girl AND the state." He grinned at her. "Plus, I'd like to check this 'wheat field' thing out myself. I suspect it's overrated."

She grinned back. "Well, August isn't for another couple of months anyway. We don't need to worry about it yet. And if you're meeting my family, I want to meet yours."

"Sure." Danny said again. "Although there's not much to meet. There's ma, Louie, and Tony."

"Who's Tony?"

"My cousin. My best friend, after Flack. The only other one who got out of the family business. He's a lawyer. I've got tons more cousins, but I don't speak to them. Ma was never really connected and since my dad died, she's had nothing to do with that life. And Louie's been in solitary upstate ever since he got out of the coma." _Did we really just have the meet-the-family talk? We've been dating two days! But I want them to meet her._

"I'd love to meet your family, Danny."

"You'll probably meet Tony first. We hang out a lot. You'll like him, he's a funny guy. Just like me."

"I bet you two are a riot. Do I get to meet your friends, too?"

"You mean outside the lab? Sure. I got a couple of buddies from school who I hang with from time to time. How 'bout you? You got some troop of girlfriends who need to give me the stamp of approval?"

"Yes, but for the most part they already have."

"What?"

"Most of my 'girlfriends' work in the lab with us. Stella, a couple lab techs. There's two girls in my building who I'm friendly with. But that's really it. I haven't been here long, I haven't made tons of friends yet outside of work."

"Ok then. Whenever you're ready, I'm ready to show you off. And if you want to show me off too, I'm all for that too." He leaned over and kissed her. "You know, I'll be happy for my friends to meet you if only to get their wives and girlfriends off my back. I was the only single one in the bunch, and they're always trying to set me up with some 'nice girl from work.' Very hard to convince them I'm not interested." _And once they meet you, they'll know I wasn't giving them an excuse as to why I didn't want to go out with their friends. I really __did __have my own 'nice girl at work.'_

* * *

The night wore on. "So what are we doing tomorrow?"

"Can't tell you. It's a surprise. I've had a long time to plan our first date and I want it to be perfect."

"Should I dress up?"

"Yeah, but nothing crazy like that dress you wore to the opera. Speaking of which, do I have to take you to the symphony to see you in that again?"

"As a matter of fact, you do."

"Alright. Consider it done. It'll be worth suffering through that noise. You looked amazing."

"Well, babe, I should get going."

"What? Why?"

"Why? I have work tomorrow morning and I don't have any of my stuff with me. You know, like clean clothes or anything."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too. This morning after you were finished getting ready I grabbed your razor, toothbrush, and gel. And I grabbed socks, boxers, and a shirt for you too. You can wear the same pair of jeans you did today."

"You're crafty, Mizz Monroe. Did you do all this to make sure you'd be able to have your way with me again tonight?"

"What would you say if I said yes?"

"I don't think I'd say anything in particular, but I might do something… something like THIS."

Lindsay squealed.


	8. Chapter 8

First thing in the morning the next day at work, Danny knocked on Mac's door.

"Uh you got a second? Lindsay and me need a favor…"

Mac cocked an eyebrow at him. Danny found he was unable to maintain eye contact, it was just too embarrassing.

"I know you said we can't let it get in the way of the job. And we promise that it won't. We were just wondering if for the next day or two you could keep us on different cases. It's kinda…distractin' right now. And we want to be able to focus."

Mac just stared at him.

"We promise it won't be for any longer than 3 days. It's just gonna take a while to get a system goin', you know? We only just started seein' each other. It's all new and so it's complicated. We'll make it up to you, I swear."

Mac stared at him for another minute. "Fine, Danny. If after 3 days you two still can't focus we might need to talk again, but I'll give you an adjustment period. Don't make me regret doing so."

"Thanks, Mac."

Mac waited for Danny to leave his office before starting to laugh. _Distracting? I bet._

Danny popped his head into the office he shared with Lindsay before heading out to a scene with Hawkes.

"Babe, I talked to Mac. We've got three days to work things out. Oh, and I'll pick you up from your place at quarter to 8. I know it's late for dinner, but I know this job. No way we're leaving at 5."

"Sounds great, honey. I'll see you then."

"Bye, cupcake."

Danny smiled at her, then turned to see Flack standing behind him, a ridiculous grin spread across his face. "Don't you say a word. I'm happy! I will not be mocked by the likes of YOU, Don Flack."

Flack just shook his head as he watched Danny walk away. _Danny Messer just called a girl 'cupcake!' And meant it! HA! I can't wait to tell Stella and Sheldon…_

* * *

Lindsay checked her make-up one last time and smoothed the front of her emerald green dress. _I hope I'm dressed alright. If he's been planning this for a while, it must mean a lot to him and I want everything to go perfectly._She smiled when she heard the knock at the door. Her smiled turned to a look of confusion when she opened the door to see the woman who lived above her, holding a bouquet of flowers and a card.

"Miss Monroe, a young man in the lobby asked me to bring these up for him. If you don't mind me saying so, he's quite the cutie!"

"Thanks, Mrs. Myers." She smiled as her neighbor walked away, smelled the beautiful flowers, and ripped open the card: "_Hey Montana, put these in water and meet me downstairs. If I'd have come up, we'd have missed our reservation (wink, wink)."_

She laughed as she quickly put the flowers in a vase and grabbed her purse.

"Danny, you're SUPPOSED to greet a girl at her door on a date!"

"Sorry hon, but it had to be done. I put too much thought into tonight for you to derail it with your feminine wiles, woman. Especially now that I see what you're wearing. Very nice, by the way." He opened the door for her and they got into a waiting cab. He must have already told the driver where to take them because he set off as soon as the door closed.

* * *

Lindsay didn't recognize the restaurant they arrived at but she could tell it was a pretty posh place. "Wow Danny, this place looks nice."

"It is nice. Or at least I've heard it's nice. I've always wanted to come here but never had a good enough reason to check it out. Now I have the perfect reason." He lightly squeezed her hand as he pushed the door open for her.

Dinner had been wonderful. She thought the prices were high but Danny just waved away her concerns. "C'mon, Montana. Give a guy a break. Just order whatever you want. Don't worry about the insignificant details." The place oozed ambiance: candlelight and live violinists playing softly in the background. When they left, Danny surprised her by crossing the street and entering Central Park. "Danny, where are you taking me? Is getting mugged part of your perfect date?"

"Hush, you."

As soon as she saw the horses, she let out a little squeal. "I've always wanted to do a carriage ride here! I thought only tourists got to do this."

"Well, I won't tell if you don't. Nobody is gonna look at us and go, 'Stop that horse! They're real New Yorkers!' Besides, I've always wanted to do this too. Again, waiting for the right girl."

Lindsay felt like she was in a movie- the park was beautiful in the moonlight. Danny had his one arm around her shoulders and the other was tightly holding her hand. She sighed contentedly and nuzzled closer to him.

"This is great, Danny."

"Well, this is where I'd planned to make a move on you, Mizz Monroe. I figured if I was doing something appropriately romantic when I kissed you for the first time, it might make up for some of my, um, notoriety. Prove I'm sincere or something."

"Well, it won't be our first kiss but I have a feeling it'll be a damn good one nonetheless." It was.

The carriage dropped them off in a different place than where they got in. Danny took her hand and guided her to a little nightclub right across from the park. It was small but fairly crowded, and there was a live band playing jazzy, slow music.

They sat at a table for a while, drinking and talking. Then Danny stood up and led her to the dance floor. He put one hand on her waist, took her hand in his, and pulled her close, resting his head on top of hers. _Damn, this feels good. I'm dancin' with my Montana._

Lindsay sighed happily. _This has to be the nicest date I've ever been on. And I never pictured Danny as a dancer._

They danced in silence for a while, just enjoying the closeness and intimacy it offered. After the fourth song started, Lindsay whispered in Danny's ear. "Did you have anything else planned for our first date?"

"Well, no. I didn't really plan on anything after this. I didn't know it was going to be so easy to get in your pants." He laughed as she wrinkled her forehead in a huff. She looked pissed for about 2 seconds, then chuckled. She whispered again.

"Do you mind if I put something on the agenda, then?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"I'm not wearing any underwear."

Danny immediately felt like he was his freshman Homecoming Dance- dancing with the girl he liked, a giant erection between them. _She probably thinks this is hysterical._ His hand brushed lightly over her ass to see if he could tell if she was telling the truth. _I don't feel anything…Jesus, you're killing me Montana._

"I'm all for whatever you have in mind, lady. But you gotta give me a minute before you pull away, ok? Otherwise I'll just embarrass myself.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, Danny's phone rang.

"Hey Tony, howyadoin' man?"

"We on for tonight Danny?" On Saturdays, the cousins usually met at Mo's, a popular sports bar.

"Well, about that. Listen, Wednesday at work I got shot…"

"WHAT? Shit man, why didn't you tell me? You dumb fuck, you ok?"

"Wait, wait. I'm fine. I was wearing a fancy schmancy bulletproof vest. Anyway, getting shot got me to make a move with Lindsay. And now we're together." Lindsay was sitting next to him and blushed at that last comment.

"Fantastico! Never mind about tonight- I don't want to get in the way of all the sex you must be having! It's about time, man."

"Shaddup. Listen, you free next week? I want you to meet her."

"Sure man. The curiosity about this girl is killing me- who is this woman who got Danny Messer to fall in love? Call me later with the details. Happy for ya, bro! And glad you're OK, ya knucklehead. You get shot again without telling me, I'll shoot you a third time myself. Call your mother right now, 'cause I'm sure you haven't yet you swine."

* * *

After he hung up with Tony, Danny's mind flashed back to a conversation he'd had with Tony several months ago, right after the disastrous conversation with Lindsay. They were at Mo's with the rest of the gang, and while everyone was laughing and having a good time Danny was sulking in his beer. It wasn't that noticeable at first but as the evening wore on and the group got more and more wasted, Danny's sighs were louder and so were the teasing remarks.

Finally, Tony felt the need to intervene. "Danny! Get your ass over here!" He pulled his cousin to a booth near the back of the bar. "Let's get away from these knuckleheads. You and I are gonna have a heart to heart, mano a mano, cousin to cousin…"

"Shut it, Tony. I don't wanna talk about nuffin." Danny sighed again.

"Too bad! You are my favorite cousin and I can't stand to see you become a marshmallow of a man. You've been feeling sorry for yourself all night, and it's pathetic."

"Shaddup."

"No, I mean it! What's with you? You haven't acted like this since you were 7 years old and my dad backed over Rex with his car."

Danny made a noise that sounded like it was a cross between a chortle and a sigh.

Tony was fairly intoxicated, so he wasn't thinking that clearly. But it finally dawned on him. "You're upset over that Wyoming girl again!"

Danny glared at his cousin. "Am not!"

"Are too! You're all sad and pathetic because you loooooooove her!" Tony started to laugh.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not! Shut it, Tony! You don't know what you're talkin' about, man!"

"Oh, I beg to disagree, Daniel." Every so often, lawyer Tony and drunk Tony crossed paths and tonight was one of those nights. "I think you don't know what you're talking about. We've known each other forever and I know everything about you and one of the things I know is that you've never been in love before. Hence, you are unable to recognize the aforementioned emotion. I, on the other hand, have been and am currently in love. Making me better qualified in identifying the symptoms. Allow me to demonstrate: Do you think about her all the time?"

Danny's eyes shot daggers at his cousin but he grudgingly admitted that he did. "Yep."

"When she's sad, do you want nothing more than to make her happy?"

"Yep."

"Can you easily imagining spending the rest of your life with her? Can you picture having little Wyomings with her?"

"Yep…" Danny's voice now sounded a little confused.

"Does the idea of anybody else ever loving her piss you off more than anything?"

"YES!"

"Do you dream about her? And not just those kinds of dreams…"

Danny flushed a little. "Yep."

"If you had to choose between oxygen and Lindsay, would you pick Lindsay?"

Sigh. "…Yep…"

"OK then. You think about her all the time. She's the most important thing in your world. You want to spend forever with her and have lots and lots of babies. Ergo, you love the girl. Admit it."

Danny was speechless. He wanted to deny it. He wasn't even dating her, how could he love her? But the seed had been planted and after a few minutes deep thought it hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks: he didlove Montana. What's more, he had for a while.

"You're right! I do!" He groaned softly.

"Of course I'm right! So are you going to tell her or what?" Tony noticed that Danny's face was not really the face of a man in love; it was the face of a completely dejected individual.

"You asshole! Why did you make me realize this? Just when I couldn't be more miserable, huh? Go to hell, jackass!" Danny chugged the rest of his beer and stormed out of the bar. _It's not bad enough knowing I probably will never have her, now I have to know I love her? FUCK!_

Tony looked at where his cousin had just been sitting with a stunned look on his face. But he was too far gone to really think about it. He shrugged, finished his drink, then joined the rest of the group.

Then, Danny had been pissed. But now he was grateful to his cousin. _I owe you one, man. Thanks for getting me to stop lying to myself. _He picked up the phone to call his mother.

* * *

Monday morning, Danny stuck his head into Mac's office again. "Hey boss, just wanted to let you know that Montana and me should be good to go now. You can put us on the same case, no problem." He grinned.

Mac choked down a laugh; he still found the whole idea that two of his best CSIs were as easily distracted as hormonal teenagers fairly amusing. He knew he should be annoyed, he just couldn't help it. Especially when it was two CSIs he wanted to see happy. "You sure, Danny? I don't want you two to compromise any investigations with your lust..."

"No, no! We can be professional. Honest."

Mac had to smile at the pleading tone in Danny's voice. He even sounded like a teenager.

"Alright, Danny, if you're positive it's not going to be a problem, I've got a DB in the Village for the two of you."

Danny had made plans to meet up with Tony and his wife that Friday at Mo's. When he and Lindsay arrived, Tony immediately rushed over to them.

"You must be Wyoming! Hope you don't mind, but I think I'll call you Lindsay. You're not big and square enough to be Wyoming," he said as he stuck out his hand.

She laughed and shook Danny's cousin's hand. "That's really ok. He's the only one who can call me Montana anyway. It's really nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."

"Nothing good, you swine." Danny added.

"Well, if that's how it's gonna be I can go on for hours with embarrassing stories about Danny here."

Tony's wife decided to jump in before the boys mockingly went at each other's throats. "Hi Lindsay, I'm Jess. We've heard lots about you. It's nice to finally put a face to the name—which Tony knows was Montana, by the way—Danny talked about you constantly for a year or something and we were really curious. Now I can see why he couldn't shut up about you- you're gorgeous!"

Danny blushed. So did Lindsay. _This woman is calling__me__gorgeous?_Jess was exactly what Lindsay had always imagined Danny's girlfriends must look like: size 2, big chest, tall, blond, confident. As the night went on, it turned out that Jess was also a very nice woman. _Didn't really imagine that for Danny's girlfriends, though- I guess I hoped they were all bitches._

Tony managed to tell some embarrassing Danny stories from when they were kids, but Danny got some in as well. Lindsay was having a great time, if she thought Danny was funny then Danny and Tony together were hysterical. Tony was like Danny's less-attractive doppelganger. After a while, Danny went to the bar to get another pitcher of beer. As it was a Friday night, there was a big crowd, so it looked like he was going to be a while.

Tony and Jess turned eagerly to Lindsay.

"Good! We wanted to get a chance to talk to you alone," said Jess.

"Yeah," added Tony. "You've been this enigma to us for a while now: who is this special girl that changed Danny so much? What cowgirl finally managed to get that boy to fall in love?"

Lindsay flushed. "Uh, I don't know what you're talking about…"

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "What? He hasn't told you? I wonder why. Anyway, it's obvious. And it has been for a while. Do you know he hasn't been on a date in almost a year? What have you done to my cousin? Not that he was ever a player per se," Tony added quickly. "But he was never a monk before."

Jess nodded her head at her husband's words. "Seriously, he was just moping in his beer every time we went anywhere. Don't get us wrong— we're happy you changed him. He needed to grow up. We're just even happier that he's happy now."

"Yeah, especially after he got so depressed a few months back. Never told us what had happened, but he was definitely sulking more than usual. I don't think he'd ever had a broken heart before, didn't know how to handle it."

_That must have been after I turned him down after the vodka case. Poor guy! I had no idea it was so rough for him._She didn't know that the only time Danny really allowed himself to feel sorry for himself was when he with Jess and Tony- seeing how happy they were together was more than he could stand. He would hate to know that Lindsay was feeling sorry for him now.

Danny came back and placed the pitcher on the table. "So what awful tales have you been telling Montana without me here to defend myself?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, swine cousin of mine…Maybe it was about the time you dressed up as a radish? Or the time Susie Mitchum made you cry in junior high…"

"Hey! She kicked me! Hard! In a sensitive place!"

"Yeah, right after she said she'd never go out with you because you were a creepy little dork with awful hair and bad breath..."

"Oh yeah? Says the guy with head gear and a bowl cut…"


	10. Chapter 10

The night with Tony and Jess had been a blast, but it was getting late. Finally, Tony yawned and stood up. "Well, kids, we should go. Got an early meeting with a client tomorrow. Lindsay, or "Wyoming," it was lovely meeting you. I'm sure we'll be seeing you a lot."

"I hope so," Lindsay said with a smile. They all shook hands again, then Tony and Jess left.

"Let's walk home, honey. It's not that far to my place and it's a beautiful night," Danny said as they headed towards the exit.

"So… Is there anything special you want to do tonight?"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Well, I'm in a generous mood. Is there something special I can do for you? Something you want in particular?"

Danny looked at her suspiciously. "What gives? If you have something you want me to do, you don't need to bribe me. Just ask." _Maybe she has something heavy she needs to move._

She laughed. "Nothing gives! I just thought it might be fun, that's all."

Danny was silent for a few minutes, then grinned. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Can you wear the hat again?"

"Sure! That's it?" _Man has a golden opportunity here, and he's not taking it. Tsk tsk._

"Whaddaya mean, that's it? I like the hat. You look hot in the hat."

She grabbed his arm and stopped him, then stepped out of the way of other pedestrians. "Danny, I mean it. The first night we were together you said you'd dreamt about me giving you head. Did you ever dream anything else? Cause I want to do something special for you. Just try me."

_Did I ever dream anything else? Woman, I had nothing__but__sex dreams about you for ages…Is she serious about this?_"Why do I get something special? I'd like to know whatever I did that made you so happy, so I can do it again." _And again and again…I've got__lots__ of fantasies involving you, Montana._

"You didn't do anything special, you're just you. And that's enough for me. C'mon, tell me! Don't be embarrassed. There's only a few things I won't do…tell me!"

_So you're saying there's lots of stuff you__will__do. Hot damn._He looked at her for a minute, then started to turn a little red.

_Is Danny blushing? Over something related to sex? This has got to be a first._"Danny, just tell me!" She jokingly hit his shoulder.

"Well, if you're for real…" _If this is some kind of twisted joke, Monroe…_"Um, There was one that involved a, uh, lap dance."

"What was that?" Lindsay asked, even though she'd heard him.

He glared at her. _You heard me. You just want me to say it again._He whispered it in her ear. "Lap dance. From you."

_Was that really so hard?_"Sure! No problem." _And I must say I'm a little relieved- that's not so bad at all._"I can even wear the hat while I do it, if you like."

Danny's eyes widened. His entire face was red now. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the sidewalk. "Taxi!"

"I thought you said you wanted to walk!"

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Just thinkin' about it is enough to make me come. We've got to get to my apartment now."

Lindsay was surprised at how fast Danny could move when properly motivated. They hurried out of the cab into his building, up the elevator, and into his apartment.

She laughed at his enthusiasm. "Ok babe, you get a chair and some music and I'll go get changed."

He grabbed her hand before she could get to the bathroom. "Are you sure, honey? If you don't want to we don't have to."

Lindsay laughed. "I'm sure. I mean, I've never done it before but we go into those places pretty often for work. I'm sure I can wing it." She winked, then headed towards the bathroom.

_What did I do in a past life to deserve this woman? I must have been a saint or something…_Danny dragged a kitchen chair into the bedroom and flipped through his CD collection. _Perfect… It's got the right kind of beat, I want to make this easy for her…_ _ohboy ohboy ohboy._

"You ready for me, Messer?" Lindsay asked. She was wearing her cowboy hat and had one of Danny's button-up shirts. _What's she wearing under that? ohboy ohboy…_

"Sure am, babe." He pressed play and sat back to enjoy the show.

Lindsay started by seductively unbuttoning the shirt. She opened it to reveal a see-through black bra and a black thong. _GOD she's hot. Like, DAMN. And who would've thought that Monroe has such racy underwear?_

Lindsay imitated the lap dances she'd seen, which had mostly been at crime scenes. Unlike those women, though, she got a lot closer and touched him a lot more. And unlike a club, Danny was allowed to touch back. Lindsay eventually lost the bra and thong, but kept the hat. _Wow she can really move. Girl's got rhythm. And she's so unbelievably frickin' sexy. I never thought she'd do this but boy am I glad she is!_

"How you doing, baby?" she asked breathily, straddling his lap.

"Pretty damn good. I think I'm gonna come in my pants though…" He kissed her neck and let his hands wander. "God you're hot..."

"Well, we can't have that. Those are nice jeans, don't get them all dirty." She got off his lap and unbuttoned his jeans. She pulled at the pants and his boxers while he took off his shirt. Soon Danny was left naked sitting on the chair. She straddled his lap again.

"Danny…" she whispered in his ear. "You just had your yearly physical, right?"

_What? Where'd that come from?_"Yeah, why?"

"And you're healthy? No diseases or anything?"

_OHH I get it._ "Oh, no, definitely not. I'm fine! Nothin' wrong with me! All clear!" _OH BOY._

"Good," she murmured. "Me too." With that she lowered herself onto his erection. "I got a diaphragm, and I'm on the pill. We should be good."

They both thought the same thing. _JESUS that feels incredible._

It didn't take much work on Lindsay's part before Danny was ready to explode, just some rocking. _Shit, I can't hold it._"Baby, I'm sorry…god Montana… LINDSAY!" He twitched, his body unable to contain the orgasm any longer. He panted for a minute, then kissed her passionately. He nuzzled her neck and whispered in her ear, "What can I do for you baby? This position isn't really working for you, is it?" She shook her head. "Ok, well do you want it hard or gentle? Just point me in the right direction."

She thought for a minute then looked him in the eye and grinned. "Tonight? Hard."

Demonstrating a strength Lindsay hadn't known he had, Danny stood up with her still on his lap. She wrapped her legs around him and he grabbed her ass to hold her up. He looked around the room, and his eyes settled on his dresser. He walked over, cleared off the top by brushing everything onto the floor, and sat her down on top. _Perfect height._

"Brace yourself, darlin' I aim to please," he growled at her. Lindsay scrambled for something to hold onto as Danny started thrusting into her, his hands digging into her hips. She ended up with one arm wrapped around his neck and the other clutching the edge of the dresser. _GOD that feels good. I love it when he's like this—he's like some wild animal._Lindsay moaned and ran her fingers across his back, scratching him. Danny moaned back. He moved harder and faster until Lindsay could sense she was on the edge of something enormous. "YES DANNY! YES!" She was louder than she'd ever been with him before- she just couldn't contain it. Her cries pushed Danny over the edge again, so they came together, loudly and violently thrashing. She sat there on the dresser for awhile, trying to catch her breath as Danny leaned into her, unable to stand yet. _I feel completely drained- but in a good way._"Christ, Linds! That was amazing." They stayed that way for a few more minutes, then he lifted her off the dresser. Instead of carrying her to the bed, he headed towards the door.

"Danny, where are we going? I don't think I'm up for round 3 after that last one."

"Honey, I may not be able to have sex for days." He winked at her and set her down when the reached the bathroom. "You cleared me out, so to speak. So I thought we might want to clean up a bit before we cuddle. Otherwise, my sheets are gonna be all messed up and I don't have any clean ones right now. I don't want to make you sleep in my mess, honey. Hell, Idon't want to sleep in my mess either."

Minutes later, they were spooning. _I can't believe I like cuddling this much. I really am a changed man. It must be impossible to be any happier than I am at this instant._He squeezed her gently, then kissed her shoulder. "Thank you, baby. That was wonderful. That lap dance was HOT. I think that tonight has got to be #2 on the all-time greatest sex list." Lindsay stiffened, but before she could say anything he added, "#1 will always be the first time with you. It was a dream come true and you just can't beat that."

He nuzzled her for a bit longer. "Actually, I'm wondering if there's something you want to tell me. You were pretty good at that lap dance thing for someone who claims to have never done it before." He laughed.

"Well, I danced for years. Not that kind of dance, but jazz, tap, and ballet. So I've got good rhythm, and I guess I pick stuff up quickly."

Danny gave an excited little gasp. "You were a ballerina?"

She laughed. "I guess you could say that. From the time I was 3 to the time I went to college I took dance lessons. I liked tap best, though."

He rolled her over so he was looking her in the face. "Montana, you gotta understand. That's one of the nearly universal fantasies that guys have. Ballerinas. It's right up there with cheerleaders."

"I was a cheerleader in high school, too." His eyes widened and he had a massive grin. "I also played softball."

"A cheerleading, ballet-dancing jock. And a brain, too, no doubt. I like it." He grinned at her some more. "Just outta curiosity, Linds, how old were you your senior year in high school?"

"Eighteen. Why?"

"Good. So I can think about you in a tutu or a cheerleading outfit and not feel like a pervert…That's sooo hot! So hot, that were I not utterly spent, I would feel the need to ravish you again, Montana." He pulled her towards him and they lay in each other's arms for a while longer.

After several minutes of contented silence, Lindsay rubbed her nose against Danny's.

"Danny, I got something I want to tell you… I know we just started dating but it's not like we just met or anything and anyway, I love you… I realized it a while ago, and I was gonna wait for you to say it first because I know some guys get scared….but I don't want to wait anymore and I don't think you'd be scared. I want you to know that I love you." He was staring at her with a very intense look on his face. Instead of saying anything in response right away, he gently kissed her.

"Linds, I love you too. I have for a long time, although I didn't know it right away. I wanted to tell you for a while now but I was worried about how you'd respond. You don't know how incredibly happy you've made me." _I was just thinking that it would be impossible to be any happier and already she proved me wrong._

Danny rolled Lindsay over so they were spooning again. After a while, though, his hands starting roaming and Lindsay thought she felt a certain body part pressed against her. "Danny, you said you wouldn't be able to have sex for days. If that's what I think it is, you lied."

"I didn't lie. 5 minutes ago, it was the truth. You're not thinking about the incredible aphrodisiac that is the woman of your dreams, the woman you love telling you she loves you too. Plus, every time we've made love before I've had to hold back a tiny bit to make sure I didn't shout it out. I don't have to do that anymore. Hence, me being ready to go again. Only if you're up for it, of course."

"I am, as long as it's nice and sweet this time. Earlier, that was really hot but I don't think I can do that twice in one night. At least not without getting major bruises."

"I can do sweet!"


	11. Chapter 11

They collapsed on the bed, with Danny slightly crushing Lindsay. _I don't mind, though. It's kinda reassuring to feel his weight…Wow, that was amazing. _It was the total opposite of earlier on the dresser. They went excruciatingly slow, and Danny made certain to be gentle. After what felt like an eternity, they arrived together. Danny had finally cried out that he loved her as he came. Lindsay didn't manage to get any words out but had thought the same thing. And she knew he knew.

Danny groaned with exhaustion, then realized he was still on top of Lindsay. He apologized as he rolled off her and gathered her in his arms again. _Man, I think I understand the difference between fucking and making love now. _The dresser had definitely been fucking and it was mind-blowing. But it paled in comparison to what had just happened. _That whole 'emotion' thing adds another dimension to things. I like it. _

Suddenly, he sat up. "I'll be right back," he told Lindsay as he pulled on his boxers and ran out of the room.

He came back in with his hand behind his back. "Montana, if you're not all freaked out about me loving you, is it safe to assume you won't be freaked out if I give you a present?"

She sat up in bed, a big smile on her face. "You bought me a present?"

He sat down at the end of the bed, his hand still behind him. "Well, actually, I have to explain something to you. I've been buying you presents for a long time now. I just haven't given them to you." Lindsay looked confused. "Listen, it's been going on for probably 10 months, around the time I first fell in love with you I guess- even though I didn't know I loved you at the time. You see, at first I was really confident that it was only a matter of time before we got together and I could give you everything. And every now and then I'd see something that I thought you might like. Not lots of stuff, and nothing like a tennis bracelet, just things that made me think of you or that I thought might make you happy. Then, after we agreed to just be friends, I still hoped that we'd get together. So I carried on my weird little habit." He blushed. "Actually, since I was only hoping at this point, I might have bought you a few pieces of lingerie. I figured I might as well hope big, ya know?" He chuckled. "I'm not going to give you everything at once, and I'm not sure if you'll like everything. If you don't, just tell me- I can swap it for something you do like." At this point Lindsay looked like she was going to cry. _God, I hope those are good tears. _"So the very first thing I bought, I didn't even know that I'd bought it for you at first. I was in the store and saw it and bought it without thinking. Then a few days later, I was staring at it and it occurred to me, 'It's for Montana. I'll give it to Montana when I tell her how I feel about her.' Which I guess is tonight. It's nothing overly special, but here."

He pulled out a rectangular jewelry box from behind his back and handed it to her. She opened it and gasped. It was a white-gold necklace with a little heart pendant. Inside the heart was a tiny blue stone. "It's an itty-bitty sapphire," Danny said. "That's the state stone of Montana, right?" She didn't answer him, just burst into tears and grabbed him. She gave him a huge kiss. "I love it! I'll wear it everyday. Thank you so much Danny!" _I can't get over how sweet he is! He's the perfect man. What did I do to deserve Danny Messer?_

Danny and Lindsay were ready to finally get some sleep. He had his arm around her, and asked very softly, "You doing ok, Linds? Not feeling bad or anything, right?" She knew exactly what he meant.

"If you're asking me if I feel guilty about loving someone other than Tom, the answer is no. I know he'd have wanted me to move on with my life. I was just thinking how lucky I am: some women never meet the right guy and fall in love. I did twice."

"You know I'm never gonna be jealous of Tom or anything right? I know some guys are like that." _Hell, I'm usually like that. But it's hard to be jealous of a dead guy. Unless you're a complete tool._

"I know, Danny. There'll always be room for both of you in my heart. I love you."

He sighed happily, whispered, "I love you," one more time in Lindsay's ear and drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Mac stood and watched through the glass walls of the lab. He turned to the CSI standing beside him. "Stella, I don't suppose I could persuade you to fall in love with Sheldon?"

Stella looked up from the lab results in her hands and her eyebrows shot up. "What the hell, Mac?!?"

He shrugged. "I know, it's probably not going to happen. It's just those two," he indicated Danny and Lindsay "have become a machine since they got together. Their efficiency and solve rates have just skyrocketed. They were both excellent CSIs before, but now it's like they have this meta-mind that's greater than the sum of its parts." _I wonder if I could write an article on this for the Journal of Forensic Science…_

Stella snorted. "Well, Mac, love is a many-splendored thing. Although increased crime-fighting ability isn't usually one of the things it's lauded for."

Mac smiled. "I know that. But I can enjoy the side-effect, can't I?"

Flack wandered up to them. "What are we looking at?"

Stella waved her hand at the couple on the other side of the glass. "We're looking at lab rats in love."

Flack laughed. "You know, it's getting a little spooky working with them. It's one thing to finish each other's sentences- you and Mac do that all the time. But these two, they like finish each other's thoughts. They'll have a whole conversation in their heads, and all we'll hear is random words. But they completely understand each other! It's just… unnerving."

The trio stood there in silence for a bit longer. Lindsay and Danny had their backs to the wall, so they were oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. They were standing in front of the layout table, reassembling some plastic object that had shattered. Ever so often, Danny would lean over and softly kiss the top of Lindsay's head. It was obvious that he was doing it subconsciously, just as he wasn't aware that he was wrapping his spare arm around Lindsay's waist. At one point, he seemed to have placed a particularly difficult fragment because Lindsay gave out a squeal and kissed him on the lips. At this point, both Flack and Stella turned to Mac, who shrugged.

"Yeah, I know I should probably reprimand them. Lab policy says that they're supposed to be professional when on duty…" He stared at them for a few moments more. "But I'm not going to mess up what is quickly becoming my most productive team." With that he walked into the layout room.

Lindsay and Danny looked up at the sound of his entrance and quickly jumped away from one another. Lindsay blushed, and Danny gave his boss a rather sheepish grin.

"Um, sorry Mac," he said. "Just got carried away for a second there."

Mac smiled at the young couple. "Actually, I was coming to congratulate you two on your recent performance. I assume it's somehow connected to…" he didn't know quite what he wanted to say at this point so he just waved his hand vaguely between them. "And since I'd like you two to maintain this level of performance, as long as you keep things PG I don't particularly care what you do. Just keep closing cases the way you have been. And if we're ever visited by a higher-up, behave yourselves. Deal?" They smiled at him and he turned to go. As an afterthought, he looked back at them with a wink. "Let me just remind you, though, that storage rooms and broom closets are off-limits." Lindsay just looked confused, but Danny's jaw dropped and his face turned red. _How did he know I was even thinking about that? Mac knows everything. _

Mac laughed softly as he walked away, thinking about the expression on Danny's face. _He's probably wondering if I read his mind or something… for such a skilled investigator, he's pretty dense for forgetting that I was his age once, too. _ _And hey, last week I thought about dragging Peyton into the handicap restroom…I didn't of course but the thought was there._

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With Mac's blessing, they became the lab couple that people either resented or found completely adorable. They held hands as they walked through the hallways or arrived at crime scenes and kissed each other goodbye each time they parted. They nagged each other to make sure they ate; they went so far as to pack each other lunch. Danny even tried to convince Lindsay to let him handle trash duty for her a few times. They were both incredibly happy that they did not have to pretend to be anything other than madly in love at work; Mac was happy because it made making the on-call schedule even easier. After all, he figured if he was dragging one out of bed, he might as well take the other one too.

Not everyone was happy. Lindsay found herself the recipient of an anti-fan club: several of the female lab techs had massive crushes on Danny for some time and were not amused at his change in relationship status. One day, a handful of them stood in the Trace Lab shooting daggers at the couple as they walked down the hall.

"Just look at her," said one. "She has to flaunt it, rub it in our faces."

"Yeah," said another. "Does she have to hold his hand? It's just cruel! What a bitch. I don't know what he sees in her."

They turned when they heard someone clearing their throat. It was Adam, who was turning a bit pink and staring at his feet.

"I don't, I don't know you, guys-girls, you know what I mean," he stammered. "It's like they don't even know, you know? what they're doing. They don't even realize they're holding, holding hands or something. It's more like, they aren't complete or something if they aren't touching each other. So they just have to. But it's not conscious. They just have to, have to hold on to one another…" At this point his face was bright red. He tried to avoid talking to girls when they were in groups of three or more, it was just too intimidating. But Danny and Lindsay were his friends and he wanted to defend them, or at least attempt to. "I think, I think it's really cute and it would be nice if you know, everybody had that…" He walked quickly out of the room.

The first lab tech turned away from him with a snort. "Yeah, whatever." _What a dork._

But the third woman, the one who hadn't said anything before, looked at where Adam had run off to with an intrigued look on her face.  
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A/N: Kinda a random chapter, I know. But I like it, and I like the idea that everybody gets a little more mushy when they see happy people in love.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks for the nice reviews! Wasn't expecting that... this might be the last new chapter for a little while (13 in 2 days is not something I can maintain). The rest will trickle in... Enjoy!

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Danny stood in the doorway of the bar, looking for his friends. Although he'd really wanted to spend tonight with his Montana, they'd both decided that they had to spend time with their friends at least once a week and time apart from each other every other week. They'd both had too many friends that they'd lost to 'relationship blinders' (as in "I can't see anything in the world besides my boyfriend/girlfriend and I'm going to drop all my friends and pretend they never existed!") and they swore never to be like that. Tonight was a guy's night out with the boys from the lab and Lindsay was meeting the girls for drinks at some place on the Upper East Side.

Danny had learned to look for Flack; as the guy was a giant, he was the easiest to spot in a crowd. _For such a big guy, you'd think he'd be great at b-ball. _Danny grinned, thinking of all the times he'd kicked his friend's ass shooting hoops. _And its not like he can blame it on that damn copy machine that landed on his chest…he wasn't that good BEFORE the bomb. _

The big guy in question turned to see Danny coming up behind him and smirked. "Speak of the devil! We were just talking about how much we hate you, Messer."

Danny frowned, pretending to be hurt. "Me? What did I ever do to you guys? I'm a saint!"

They all laughed at that statement. He might be a changed man recently, but "saint" was still low on the list of words that could be used to describe Daniel Messer.

"We were just all ranting about the ridiculous standard you've been setting for us among the female contingent of the lab," Flack explained. "They won't settle for us chumps these days. They all want what you and Linds have got, and that's a hard act to follow. Hence the hate."

Danny held up his hands in self-defense. "I fail to see how you all being chumps is my fault. And I also don't see how me trying to be a good boyfriend is crimping your love lives."

Sheldon had to butt in at this point. "Danny, he's right! You two are like a pair out of a chick flick! You don't even fight anymore. It's unnatural. And impossible to imitate."

"We fight! We fight all the time! In fact, we fought today."

Hawkes sighed. "No, you bicker. It's not the same. Bickering is endearing and cute. You bicker over cases and who's right about things and whether she's eating properly and whether you're getting enough sleep. You two used to have real fights as in days without speaking to each other. Not anymore."

"Hey man, we still have real fights. We just don't bring that shit into the lab. We try to be somewhat professional, ya know."

"I don't believe you!" Flack interjected. "You can't just make it to the doors of the building and flip a switch and be not mad all of a sudden, then pick up your argument as soon as you leave for the day. That's just too Stepford..."

Danny sighed. He really didn't like to share the details of his relationship but he was beginning to think it was necessary. _This is all they're getting though… Flack can pester me all he wants but I ain't telling him about our sex life. _"We don't have to pretend to not be mad at each other when we make it to the lab. We promised that whenever we fight, we settle things before we have to go to work together. Which means sometimes we stay up all night yelling at each other…so sometimes when I have bags under my eyes, its not cuz I was up all night doing something fun." He glowered at his friends, thinking of all the times they'd teased him for his haggard appearance. "But it usually doesn't take all night. When we fight, it's usually my fault…She's usually pissed at me cause I did somethin' stupid. I just gotta stop being stubborn and admit that it was stupid, apologize to Montana, and then convince her I really am sorry and get her to forgive me. It's the last part that takes so long. Then we make up," he smirked "and go to bed, and come into work the next day with no problems. It's a good system!" Danny smiled, thinking about their last fight. He'd never admit it because he knew it would cost him either his testicles or his life, but sometimes he did things that he knew would piss her off because she looked so sexy when she was mad. When she stomps her tiny feet in rage and when her beautiful eyes flash in vexation, it takes everything in his power not to pull her to the floor and fuck her senseless. _She's just too damned cute, no matter what she does. _ _And her yellin' at me is such a frickin' turn-on…Always has been, always will._

The group of guys just shook their head at him, still upset at the way he'd raised the expectations of their coworkers. Sheldon was inwardly cheering for his friend, though. _Danny grew up! He's in a mature relationship! He's capable of recognizing that he's wrong. This is unreal. Stella is gonna be tickled pink when I tell her._

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The night went on and the beer flowed. Adam had been working up some liquid courage and approached Danny.

"Hey, uh, Danny? Do you, do you mind if I ask you something? It's kinda embarrassing and if you don't want me to bother you I can go away but I don't really want to ask any of the other guys cause you know how they are, they like to tease me and maybe you'll tease me too but I don't know who else to ask…"

"Whoa there, buddy! Breathe. Spit it out. I can't promise not to pick on you but I promise to try."

Adam flushed. "There's, there's this girl and I think she likes me and I don't know what to do. I'm not really good with girls as you might guess cause you know how I ramble and when I try and ask somebody out they usually walk away from me before I get to the asking part because it takes me so long to get there. Like, this one time…"

Danny stopped him before the tangent got any bigger. "Not good with girls? Adam my man, you told me you dated a Suicide Girl! That's impressive. Those girls are hot!"

Adam flushed some more. "Well, yeah I dated a girl, her name was Sparkplug which is a really weird name and the story about her nickname is pretty interesting but not really relevant but I also told you that she kinda broke my heart." He frowned. "She said she thought it might be fun to date a geek for a while and she said that my stammering was cute. But she left me after a few weeks for a guy with a Harley and no neck who barely spoke at all so I don't know if she was ever really into me or if I was just some kinda novelty for her. Anyway, she'd asked me out. She was really forward, so it wasn't really anything I had to worry about but this girl isn't at all like Sparkplug which is a good thing although they're both blonde, well Sparkplug was naturally blonde but had dyed her hair this really cool iridescent purple color…"

Danny stopped listening, thinking about his own experience with the Suicide Girls. _Yeah, they sure are forward. What was her name, Clinton? No, Nixon…_ His mind drifted for a second; he had to admit that 1/1000th of his brain wondered what it would have been like if he'd accepted her rather blatant proposition. _Once in a lifetime chance, Messer. But then so is Montana. I'm glad I didn't blow it with her by hooking up with some punk rock chick… and honestly, Nixon was probably too kinky for me. _He focused his attention back on Adam. "So what makes you think this girl likes you? Not that you aren't a likeable guy," he added, realizing that the first sentence could be interpreted as insulting. He chuckled softly when he saw Adam blush even more. _If he doesn't stop that, he's gonna blow a gasket or something… or at least end up with a new nickname. Meet Lobster Boy!_

Adam was red because he was thinking about what had happened in the lab three days ago. He was working with Tricia, who was beautiful and out of his league and probably didn't even know his name. He watched himself carefully around her, trying not to say anything stupid (so he usually said nothing at all). He avoiding looking at her as much as possible so she wouldn't realize he wanted to stare at her, and he even focused on not breathing too loudly. His goal was to blend in, to be as unobtrusive as a micro- spectrometer. The other day he'd risked a quick peek, and saw that she was staring through the walls of the lab. Lindsay and Danny were giving each other a quick kiss and heading in opposite directions. She turned back to her microscope quickly and saw that he was looking at the couple too. She caught his eye and gave him a quick smile. "I never thought that Mac would approve of an office relationship, did you?"

Flabbergasted that she'd spoken to him, that she'd asked him a question that was not at all related to fibers or other particulates, he made a bunch of weird stammering noises that if you were half-listening to might have sounded like an answer. Tricia was more than half-listening though, and smiled at his nervous reaction to her. She then made things worse for him by adding, "It's good to know it's allowed though, isn't it Adam?" She then winked, WINKED! at him and walked out of the lab. It had taken all his self-control to not collapse in a heap on the floor. _I can't tell Danny what happened. He'll laugh at me. He was always so smooth with the ladies and I'm about as awkward as a baby giraffe. _

"Um, I dunno Danny. I just think she likes me. I mean, I'm probably wrong but if I'm not I was wondering if you might have any suggestions about what to do cause she's beautiful and I like her and it'd be nice to have a girlfriend especially one as smart and nice and pretty and hot as her and the last time I asked a girl out she laughed at me which wasn't really encouraging, I mean it would have been ok if she'd laughed at me cause I told a joke but I hadn't told a joke I just asked her if she wanted to go see the new X-Men movie with me…"

Danny groaned inwardly. _X-Men? Damn, Adam! Try and act a little_ _cool for once… wait, Adam shouldn't have to act like someone else. If this girl likes him (and I suppose it's possible that she does) she has to know that he's King Nerd and maybe she likes that. It takes all kinds to make the world, after all…There are guys who like 500 lb women, surely there are women who dig geeks._ "Hmm, give me a second, kay buddy? Gotta think… If the askin' part is always your worst part, why don't you write her a note? I bet even you can't ramble on in a note. Your hand would cramp if you wrote like how you talk."

"Wow, Danny! That's a good idea. I guess I could write Tricia a note, I tend to write very short notes and I've been told I have very neat handwriting which is interesting because I got a C- in cursive in 5th grade…" His face fell. "But I don't want to send her a note if she doesn't like me because then she could show all the other girls and they'd laugh at me even more than they do now." He sighed.

Danny groaned silently again. _How did I get in this position? When did I become a relationship guru? If he wanted to know how to pick up a random girl in a bar, that I could answer. But asking out the girl you have a crush on…I totally sucked at that! _"Well, I understand why you're nervous. I was scared about askin' Montana out for the longest time. If you think that there's a chance she'll shoot you down, it's intimidatin' as hell. _And it IS hell when she DOES shoot you down. _But let me talk to my gal. I think Tricia is one of her girlfriends. If Tricia likes you, Montana might know." _Jesus, this is like junior high! But you should help your friend out, Messer. The universe has been very kind to you recently. You should be kind in return._

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Danny broached the topic the next night over dinner. They were curled into one another on Danny's couch, eating pizza and watching the Yankees. _This is heaven… even if the Yankees lose, I couldn't ask for a better evening. _"Hey, babe? I gotta question for you. And you'll probably laugh at me cause I feel like I'm 14 for even askin'…"

Lindsay looked up at her boyfriend and smiled. "I laugh at you anyway, Messer. I don't need an excuse. Although you acting like a teenager would be a pretty good one…"

"Ha ha, very funny. Anyway, I was wonderin' how good friends you are with that Tricia girl…"

"We're friends. She went out with us last night. Why?"

"Damn, this is embarrassing. DoyouknowifshelikesAdamcausehelikesher?"

"What? I didn't understand a word you said…"

He sighed. "I said, do you know if she likes Adam because he likes her, but he's scared to ask her out because he's afraid she'll laugh at him. Apparently that happens a lot." _Poor guy._

Lindsay smiled. "You're Yente!"

"Whazzat?"

"The matchmaker! From 'Fiddler on the Roof'" She looked at his vacant expression. "It's a musical. A good one. One of my favorites."

"Ok, ok. I'm Yente. Laugh it up. But you didn't answer my question, Miss Broadway."

"Sorry, it's just funny that's all. To answer your question, Tricia has confided in me that she finds Adam to be completely adorable. Like a puppy."

Danny groaned. "A puppy? Montana, the guy thinks she's hot! How am I supposed to tell him that she thinks he's cute in all the wrong ways?"

"No, no, you don't understand. She's into him. She likes that he's like a little nervous puppy around her. It's very flattering to know that a guy is so stunned by you he's incapable of forming sentences."

He nuzzled her neck. "If you think that's flattering, you should know that you frequently deprive me of my ability to speak at all."

"That I can't believe. Motormouth Messer? Speechless? Bah!"

He frowned. "Hey! It's the truth!"

She laughed, then wrapped her arms around his neck. "I know, I know. I was just teasing you, love. And so you know, the sight of you often leaves me speechless as well as breathless."

"See, now that's a nice thing to say to your boyfriend. Let me show you how much I appreciate you sayin' nice things like that…"

Neither of them spoke much for the remainder of the evening. And the Yankees won.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Again, thanks for all the nice reviews! Way to make me a more confident writer-which in turn will get me to update sooner. By the way, if anyone can come up with a better summary/description thingy I'd be MUCHO MUCHO obliged. :)

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Lindsay walked into their office with a big grin on her face.

Danny smiled at her smile. "He said yes? How did you manage that one, Montana?"

"I have my ways, Messer." She winked at him.

Danny groaned. "Please tell me you didn't sleep with our boss so we could have the same time off for vacation." As he hoped, he made her blush. _Pink is really her color._

"Of course not! I just asked Peyton and Stella for help. When his girlfriend and best friend are both nagging him about something, how could he not give in?" Her grin got even wider and she starting to bounce in place, practically jumping for joy. "You're coming to Bozeman with me! This is so exciting!" _I get to show him off to all my family and friends AND I'm gonna make him ride a horse!_

Danny got up and wrapped his arms around her; gleeful Lindsay was too much for a man to resist. "I'm excited, too, babe. I'm really looking forward to this." _Not looking forward to the plane ride though. Don't think about it, Messer. Just don't think about it._

Flack had walked in to check on the case they were working on and caught the tail of the conversation. He let out an exaggerated sigh at the sight of the couple hugging and rolled his eyes theatrically. "Messer, I do NOT want to know what you're 'excited' about. Please keep that stuff to yourself, bud. Definitely TMI."

Lindsay teasing slapped Flack on the arm. "Just so you know, Donald, Danny is excited because he's coming with me in August to Montana!"

Flack started laughing hysterically. The mental image of Danny out west was more than he could handle. _It'll be just like City Slickers or something. Danny is like the anti-cowboy. I mean, the guy is metrosexual to the nth degree. And I'm not sure if he's ever really left New York. _He found he needed to sit down before he fell down.

"You know, if you keep laughing at me like that you're gonna bust a gut and end up in the hospital again. And this time there's no way in hell I'm visiting you. And I'll pull whatever strings I can find to make sure you get all male nurses!"

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"So what do you think of this one?"

Danny looked at the note in front of him: 'Tricia-Would you like to have dinner with me? – Adam.' He sighed. "Looks good, pal, but I don't see how it's any different from the last one. _Or the 15 before it. _ "I think you're stalling. Just go and put it in her locker already. I swear it's not gonna kill you."

It had been almost two weeks since Adam asked for Danny's help and he still hadn't asked the girl out. Lindsay offered to tell Tricia to ask Adam out but Danny put his foot down. "No, Montana. The guy needs to do this himself. Get himself a backbone and some confidence." Adam had asked for his help, and dammit he was going to get it. The shy lab worker had become Danny's pet project.

Adam looked like he was going to faint and Danny took pity on him. "Listen, I'll even walk with you to the locker room and stand right next to you when you put it in. You can do this. I told you that it's very likely that the girl is gonna say yes. You have nothing to be nervous about!" _You're being a hypocrite, Messer. How long did it take you to work up the nerve to ask Montana out? But then again I didn't have a frickin' guarantee that she was into me like Lobster Boy has!_

"I know, I know that you said that Lindsay said that Tricia said she likes me but it's still really scary and overwhelming and I told you about my track record with these things, and I don't like uncertainties outside of Heisenberg's principle…" Danny cut him off at this point, knowing that once he went on a physics tangent there was no stopping him.

"Adam, life is full of frickin' uncertainties! But Tricia saying yes is about as damn close to certain as you're gonna get in the real world. I'm talkin' like 97.99 here. So just do it already! You're acting like a 12 year old girl or somethin'…I'm gonna start calling you 'Tiffany' if you don't behaving like a grown man. In front of everybody. Including Mac. AND I'm gonna tell them why they should all start callin' you Tiff…Flack'll love it."

Adam opened and closed his mouth a few times. Danny stifled a chuckle. _Did I really get Adam to shut up? You know, he kinda looks like this goldfish I once had… _He watched with pride as the young man left his office and headed towards the locker room, looking petrified but clutching the note in his hand defiantly.

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Adam had practiced how to talk to Tricia after she got his note with Danny tons of times but when he saw her headed towards him he felt a bit like a deer in headlights. Danny had refused to tell him exactly what to say or do, and he really just wanted a script to follow. _I'm gonna blow it! I always do! _He took a deep breath and thought of the advice Danny had given him. _Remember, act naturally-be yourself 'cause Tricia wants me to ask her out. _Danny had saidhe'd help him be 'Adam with a bit of spit and polish,' not a Danny clone.The detective had even helped him plan a nice evening by interrogating him about his dream date with Tricia. He gulped and smiled at the beautiful woman approaching him.

"Hey Adam, I got your note! I'd love to have dinner with you. What night were you thinking?" Lindsay had told her to make sure to open her locker at lunch and she had been pleasantly surprised.

_Inhale, exhale. _"Well, I'm free tonight if you are." _Inhale, exhale._

Tricia smiled. _That has to be the shortest sentence I've ever heard him say. _"Tonight would be great. Where did you have in mind? Do I need to go home and change?"

Adam hadn't counted on Tricia mentioning changing her clothes; he panicked as soon as the idea of her taking off what she was currently wearing passed through his head. All his composure was gone and he began to turn red. "No, no, no! You look fine, I mean you look more than fine you look beautiful but then you always look beautiful even in your lab coat not that I stare at you a lot or anything but you're hard to miss because you always look so good not that I'm trying to ignore you or anything…_Shut up Adam! Stop stop stop! _Anyway, I wanted to take you to this restaurant, actually its my favorite restaurant, it's Thai and I don't know if you like Thai or not, if you don't its ok because there's this other place we could go and they have normal food, by normal food I mean Italian and American food, and I guess I shouldn't really call that 'normal' food because Thai food is normal to many people, people from Thailand obviously thinking its normal…" Tricia placed her hand over his mouth, causing him to stop speaking and turn an interesting shade of magenta. _He's adorable when he does that but we're never going to get to go on this date if I don't stop him._

"I love Thai food. And if it's your favorite restaurant I'm sure it's good. Why don't you meet me at the elevators at 5:30?"

_She touched me! On purpose! _"5:30 would be great, it's a good time to meet because that gives us time to walk there if you want, the place is within walking distance and it's been really nice recently, it's probably due to climate change which is definitely bad but can sometimes have nice side effects, and I like walking but we can take a cab if you want." This time he managed to stop speaking all on his own.

"I like walking too. See you at 5:30!" She gave him a mega-watt smile that made his legs turn to mush and left the room.

Adam collapsed onto a nearby stool and sat there looking stunned for a few minutes. Then he stood up and ran to find Danny to tell him the good news.

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It was the end of the day, and Danny and Lindsay were ready to head to her apartment for another night of blissful takeout and vegetating on the couch. He stood in the doorway of the locker room waiting for her to finish putting her coat on when he saw something that made him smile.

"Psst! Montana! Come quick!"

Lindsay hurried over and peeked around the doorframe to see a very nervous Adam standing in front of the elevators holding a small bouquet of daisies. Tricia was walking towards him with a big smile on her face, and when she took the flowers she gave him a peck on the cheek. Adam blushed but managed to smile back at her. His face was magenta and even from a distance Danny could tell he was close to hyperventilating, but he managed to still take her arm in a gentlemanly manner and the pair stepped into the elevator together. It was clear that they were grinning at each other as the doors closed..

"Aww, that is so cute! You were such a good Yente, Danny!"

Danny was pleased with the results of his efforts and proud of his friend, but was starting to get uncomfortable with the nickname Montana had given him. From what he got from Wikipedia, she seemed to be calling him some kind of old woman. As soon as Flack picked up on it, he was a gonner. "When are you going to stop calling me that? I don't even know what that means really!"

"Well, if you want to know we can always watch the movie tonight…"

"No, no, that's ok. I don't really need to know. You can call me whatever you want, just don't make me watch another musical." She's already subjected him to the complete works of Rogers and Hammerstein. He loved the woman, but there was only so much singing and dancing he could take.

"Well, your matchmaking seems to have come to a successful conclusion, so I guess I can retire the name. I reserve the right to recall it if you ever feel the need to meddle in Flack's love life, though."

"Aww, c'mon Montana. That sure as hell ain't happening, I ain't a miracle worker."

She looked up at him with a wicked gleam in her eye and leaned towards him to purr in his ear. "Sure you are. Let's go home." She winked at him and took his hand as they walked to the elevator.

Danny decided right then he'd watch as many musicals as she wanted if that's what it took to keep this wonderful woman as his girlfriend. He just wasn't sure when he'd volunteer this information. _Tomorrow…Next Tuesday at the latest._


	15. Chapter 15

Becky stood at the end of the aisle and briefly scanned the passengers who were already seated. _Ooh, we have a potential hottie in 3B! _ She smiled when she saw how nervous he looked- he was already wearing his seatbelt (even though take-off wasn't for another 45 minutes) and was clutching his armrests so tightly his knuckles were white. _Well, it'd be the decent thing to do to try and calm the man down, right? _She headed towards him, noticing that the window seat next to him was empty.

"Sir? Are you alright? You seem nervous." 3B looked up at her with an embarrassed smile. _Ok, definitely hot! Look at those eyes! Those arms! _"Is this your first time flying?"

He grimaced. "Yeah, is it that noticeable?"

She chuckled. "Well, consider how many passengers I see every year! I'm pretty good at recognizing flight nerves." She lightly licked her lips and casually batted her eyes.

"I think I'm beyond nerves, personally. I'm kinda at petrified."

Those incredibly intense blue eyes lit up as he saw someone headed down the aisle. A pretty brunette came up to them and climbed over Hottie to sit in 3A.

She gave him a quick kiss and then noticed how he was sitting. "Danny, you don't have to have your seatbelt on yet- they'll give you plenty of warning. And if you think you're going to hold my hand that tight when we take off, you've got another thing coming." His shoulders relaxed slightly and he loosened his grip on the armrests. The seatbelt he left on.

"Let me know if you need anything," Becky said before she headed further down the aisle. _Dammit, of course he has a girlfriend. Guys who look like him aren't single. _

As soon as she was gone, Lindsay gave Danny a mock glare. "She was flirting with you!"

"She was?"

"Don't try and pretend you didn't notice."

He wasn't pretending. He really didn't notice these things anymore when it was subtle like that. He'd stopped paying attention to those kinds of signals from women other than Montana. "I swear I didn't notice. The question is how did you notice when you were standing at least 10 feet away?"

"You think I don't have some kind of radar for when women go sniffing around my guy? I'm evolutionarily inclined to notice potential rivals, honey. All sorts of bells and whistles go off when I sense a threat."

Danny knew what she was talking about; he definitely had alarms go off when guys got too friendly with Lindsay. "Babe, she's no threat. I love you and I can't think of a better way to prove my devotion to you than hurtling through the sky in a big heavy metal object. Plus I'm headed to meet your family, and they're probably all heavily armed." He gave her that smirk that she claimed to despise yet always turned her on.

"Hush, you, or I won't hold your hand."

"You are a cruel woman, Monroe."

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Becky was handling the dinner cart for the left aisle. When she got to 3B, she had to smile. He was sitting very still in what looked like a fairly awkward position, but he was gazing happily at his seatmate who had sprawled from her seat onto him and was sleeping comfortably.

"How are the flight nerves? And would you like the chicken or beef?" Becky asked.

Danny looked up at the flight attendant. "Nerves are doing ok. I survived take-off anyway. And give me one of each. I don't want to wake her yet and this way she can pick what she wants. I'll eat whatever she doesn't."

Becky glanced back at 3B a few times as the cart worked its way down the aisle. _Hot and sweet._ _I wonder if she'd let me clone him…_

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

The in-flight movie had started and everyone was either watching it or sleeping. Well, almost everyone…

"Danny, you have to stop!"

"Why?"

"Because giving me a hickey right before you meet my dad for the first time would NOT be a smart thing to do."

"Ah."

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It was the middle of the night and all the lights were dimmed when Lindsay woke up. She looked over Danny, who was still asleep. She nudged him lightly in the ribs. When he woke, she winked at him then climbed over him out of her seat. He looked confused until he saw her reach the bathroom, turn to him, and smile. Grinning, he waited a minute before standing up and following her in. _Flyin' ain't so bad after all…I dunno what I was so nervous about…_

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Lindsay woke up before Danny and glanced out her window. What she saw caused to gasp and turn to shake her boyfriend. "Wake up, Danny! You have to see this!"

By sheer coincidence, the sun was rising as they flew over the Rocky Mountains, resulting in a sight to die for. Danny leaned over her so he could see and let out a whistle of appreciation. "Yeah, that's #4 on the list of 'Incredibly Beautiful Things Danny Has Seen.'

"Come on Danny this is GORGEOUS. What beats it?"

"Well, #3 was when the Yankees kicked the Mets' ass in the Subway Series in 2000 and #2 is sunset over the Manhattan skyline."

"And what's #1?"

"Need you ask, Montana? I thought you were a smart gal." He gave her a meaningful look and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Humor me," she said with a grin.

Danny let out a faux-exasperated sigh. "Alright, alright. I hereby state that you, Lindsay Monroe, are the most incredibly beautiful thing that I, Daniel Messer, have seen in my 32 years. Happy?" His eyes were twinkling.

"Utterly." Her smile showed she meant it with every fiber of her being.

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	16. Chapter 16

A/N: This one isn't as funny/fluffy as some other chapters but has a whole bunch of background on Danny that I totally pulled from thin air. Kinda spoilers for Run Silent Run Deep.

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Lindsay was practically skipping down the walkway that brought them to the baggage claim section of the airport. After they collected their luggage, she went to hurry off, eager to see her family, but Danny grabbed her hand. 

"Gimme a minute, babe." Danny was looking a little pale and seemed to be sweating more than usual.

Her jaw dropped. Danny Messer was scared? Danny, the guy who chased down criminals no matter what (even if it meant jumping off a fire escape)- Danny, the guy who grew up in the wrong part of town in a family of criminals - Danny, the walking definition of 'tough guy'- was scared to meet her parents? It was just too absurd. She stifled a laugh, instead taking his face in her hands and gazing intently into his eyes.

"Hon, there's nothing to be nervous about. My parents are nice people. Mom already raves about you all the time! And Daddy's a teddy bear- honest. They'll love you because I love you."

He gulped. Pull yourself together! He didn't want to admit to her that this was the first time he'd done this- before her he was not the guy you brought home to meet your parents. And he wanted nothing more than for her family to like him because he was planning on sticking around for a while. He took a deep breath. _You can do this, Messer._

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Lindsay ran ahead of him when she saw her parents waiting for her. He stopped for a moment and smiled at the way her face was lit up, then made his way over to the group, struggling somewhat with all the suitcases (he'd insisted on carrying hers so she could run ahead).

When Lindsay was finished with her hugs and excited, high-pitched squealing noises, she grabbed his arm and dragged him up to an enormous man who looked like he'd worked outdoors every day of his life. "Daddy, this is Danny Messer. Danny, this is my Daddy." She grinned as the two most important men in her life shook hands for the first time.

Danny smiled Lindsay's father. "Pleased ta meetcha, Mr. Monroe."

"Call me Hank," he responded automatically as his brain was too busy processing the sight (and sound) of the man his daughter loved. _That accent is ridiculous. I didn't know people really talked like that… _He was trying his hardest not to make any snap judgments about the young man before him and was finding it somewhat difficult. _Good handshake, though. That's a start_. When he released Danny's hand his wife swooped in.

"I'm Gail. It's so nice to finally meet you- I've heard so much about you!" Danny stuck out his hand again but instead found himself being hugged by an older, grayer version of Lindsay.

"Well, let's not dilly-dally," Hank said as he relieved Danny of half the luggage. When they reached the exit, he left to bring the truck around. "It's just easier this way," he'd explained.

"So Danny," Gail said. "How was your first flight? Lindsay mentioned that you have a bit of a phobia."

He turned and grinned at his girlfriend. "It was just fine. Your daughter took good care of me- let me hold her hand at take-off and when we landed. _And provided ANOTHER form of comfort..._ I think I came close to breaking some of the bones in her hand at one point during the landing.. Sorry, babe." He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently, causing Gail to smile.

"Oh yes, Lindsay: your sister will be home by the time we get there."

"I was going to ask you why Ax wasn't here!" she cried. "She's home for the summer, right?"

"She was visiting friends but wanted to be back in time to see you. She just guessed wrong by few hours."

Danny looked quizzically at Lindsay. "Your sister's name is Ax? I thought she was named Ashley…"

Lindsay laughed. "She is. We just call her Ax. It's short for 'Accident' because she was one. She's a freshman in college this year. Actually, Ax is only four years older than her oldest niece. There's a 16 year gap between Ax and my brother Joe."

Danny whistled. "That's a big gap."

It was Gail's turn to laugh. "I don't call her Ax, actually. I tried to get them to change it to 'Miracle' for a while but it was a lost cause…Ah, here's Hank with the truck."

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The ride to the Monroe farm was a unique experience for Danny. The airport was past the city limits so it wasn't long before the scenery looked like nothing he'd seen in person before. He looked out the windows with interest, and after a while rolled down the window. "So that's fresh air. Huh."

Lindsay laughed. "And what do you think of it?"

"Eh, I don't see what all the fuss is about. New York air has character. This is kinda boring."

"It'll stop being boring once we're downwind of a farm…"

Danny was a city boy but he knew what she was referring to. He quickly rolled his window back up.

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"Daddy! Stop the car for a minute please?"

Hank looked in the rearview mirror at his daughter with a confused look on his face. "Is something wrong Linds?"

She smiled at her father. "No, no. Nothing's wrong. I just need to show Danny something." She opened the door and hopped out of the cab. "C'mere, Messer."

Danny exited the truck and walked over to his girlfriend. "Whatcha want, Monroe?"

She waved her hand out in front of her in a sweeping gesture. "Behold! A wheat field!"

Danny looked at the stalks in front of him and shrugged. "It's ok."

"Ok?"

He grinned at her. _Actually it's pretty cool looking but I'm not gonna give her the satisfaction of knowing that yet._ "Yeah, ok. Not as nice as I'd expected from hearing you go on about them."

She gave him a smack on the arm and climbed back into the truck but didn't leave room for him to climb in next to her. "Daddy, let's just leave Danny here. He clearly needs time to take in the view in order to truly appreciate it."

"Aww don't be that way Montana." He gave her the puppy dog look she couldn't refuse.

She sighed. "Fine, Danny." She scooted over so that Danny could climb in and turned to him. "You know, if you keep calling me Montana people are going to get mighty confused…"

"Oh, I don't know about that. Don't underestimate people's ability to recognize nicknames. Do people often mistake your sister for a tool used to chop wood?"

Lindsay had nothing to say to that. Hank just smiled. _Maybe he's not so bad._

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The truck turned onto a dirt driveway and Danny's eyebrows shot up. The farm was huge: there were multiple pastures and several buildings surrounding a massive barn.

"Whoa. What kind of farm is this, anyway?" he asked.

"We breed horses," Hank said with pride. And Danny soon spotted a big herd of fine looking animals. "They're racehorses," he added. It pained him to describe his thoroughbreds like that but he assumed anything else was beyond Danny. He was right.

The truck stopped and they all climbed out. Lindsay's mother pointed to a small building next to the farmhouse. "You two are going to be in the carriage house. I figured you wouldn't want to stay in Lindsay's old room. Her doll collection can be a little unnerving at night if you aren't used to it."

Danny smiled. He'd had enough creepy doll experiences to last a lifetime. "Thanks, Gail. I owe you one. Hey Montana, you go in and see your sister. I can handle getting our stuff inside." She gave him a quick kiss and was off running.

Gail started towards the house as well. "Hank'll help you out, Danny. I'll go start dinner."

Danny was a bit nervous at being left alone with Lindsay's father. He followed the big man into the smaller building. It had been turned into a guest room, so there was a nice sized bed-room, a small sitting area, and a private bathroom. "Wow, this is nice. Not really what I was expecting when I heard 'carriage house'."

"What did you expect?" Hank asked.

"Well, carriages I guess," Danny answered with a smile.

"Joe and I renovated this place about 5 years ago."

"You did a nice job. It looks great."

"Thanks…"

"So…" _What do you SAY to your girlfriend's father, anyway?_

They looked at each other for a minute then recognized the sheepish look on each others' face. The awkward silence was quickly replaced with slightly less awkward chuckles. Hank clapped the younger man on the back.

"Come on, Danny. Let's go see what the female Monroes are up to"

--------------------------

Lindsay was sitting on the couch talking excitedly to a young woman that Danny could immediately classify as a sister. _Montana's the pretty one, though._ They both jumped up when he came into the room.

"Ax, this is Danny."

Lindsay's sister rolled her eyes. "Well obviously, Linds. Who else would he be?" She stuck out her hand. "Hey, I'm Ashley!" She turned to her sister. "You told me he was cute Linds! You could have prepared me for his totally smoking hotness a bit better. I'm melting here!" She gave him a wink that seemed more playful than flirty.

"Howyadoin', Ashley?" _Boy, I hope Montana's sister isn't really hitting on me. WEIRD._

She giggled. "Get used to people laughing at you when you open your mouth, Danny."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know. Well, I don't want to get in the way of all the girl talk you two probably need to catch up on so I'll just leave you alone for a bit, ok?"

Lindsay smiled at him. "Thank you, honey. The TV is in the next room if you're looking for something to keep you busy. I'll come find you in a little bit and give you a tour of the place, ok?" Danny nodded then left the room.

Instead of heading towards the TV room he walked into the kitchen. "Hey Gail, need any help?"

She looked up from the stove with her eyes wide in surprise. "I suppose so… do you know anything about cooking?"

He gave her a big grin. "Ma'am, I'm Italian. Me and food, we're like this." He held up two fingers wrapped around each other.

"Well, how nice!" She quickly put him to work. "I never get help. Hank always has to put the horses away for the night and Ashley could burn water."

"Montana's a good cook, though. Did she get that from you?" He smiled fondly at the memory of eating lasagna with her that night five months ago.

"I don't know. I'll admit I've never had anything that Lindsay's made so I'm going to have to take your word that she's not as kitchen-impaired as her brother and sister."

"I suppose I might be biased. I think her food tastes good but I also think she's wonderful… Hey, if you'd like me and her can take care of dinner one night while we're here. Then you can evaluate her cooking skills yourself. Plus you'd get a night off." He wasn't trying to brownnose with Lindsay's mom so much as be nice to her. He hoped it didn't seem like he was trying too hard.

Gail gave him an enormous smile that seemed genuine. "That's a wonderful idea, Danny. Thank you!"

Danny let out an inner sigh of relief, then focused his attention on the task in front of him.

Lindsay found him laughing in the kitchen with her mother half an hour later. She wasn't surprised to see him stirring something on the stove. _Momma's gonna LOVE him now._

"There's my Emeril," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist carefully.

"Hey now Montana, it's 'Boom' not 'Bam.' And I'm much better looking than him."

Gail laughed. "Lindsay, Danny's volunteered you to take care of dinner one night with him. He says you're a good cook, and I say I need proof based on Joe and Ashley's skills."

_Wow, Momma's REALLY going to love him_. "Sure, no problem Momma. And I had to learn how to cook when I moved out by myself. Joe had Susie to cook for him and Ax is still in a dorm so there's not much she needs to do besides microwave Ramen for now." She turned back to her boyfriend. "Since you're busy, I guess we'll do a tour later." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. _Well, he's won one parent over completely. I hope he's as successful with Daddy…_

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Conversation over dinner went fairly well as it was mostly directed at Lindsay. Finally, though, Hank turned to Danny.

"So Danny, do you hunt?"

Danny grinned. "If you count bad guys, sure. If you're talking deer and that kinda stuff, then no."

Hank frowned. _He doesn't hunt? Then again what would he hunt in New York, pigeons?_ "Do you shoot at all?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, sure. I mean, I carry a gun for work. Don't have to use it very often fortunately."

"Maybe we can go down to the firing range sometime this week and shoot skeet."

Danny nodded enthusiastically but inwardly was terrified. _He seems to like me ok but do I really want to be around shotguns with the man?_ Fortunately, the conversation turned back to Lindsay.

Over pie, Gail looked up at him and smiled. "So Danny, tell us about your family."

There it was. He'd been waiting for that one. He bit his lip and squirmed in his seat but felt Lindsay pat him reassuringly on his thigh.

"Well, that's kinda complicated…There's not really a nice way to put it so here it goes: my family is mobbed up."

To their credit, Hank only slightly choked on his pie and Gail's fork froze only for a minute on the way to her mouth. Ashley's jaw dropped only halfway to the floor.

"I ain't into all that, though. I don't talk to my family, haven't for years, not since I left for college. I'm kinda the black sheep of the family. My dad was pretty high up in the food chain, and my grandfather was kinda like a Don. All my uncles are wise guys and all but one of my cousins. But honestly, I have nothing to do with them."

Hank gave him a look that said 'go on' but was otherwise unreadable.

"We had Feds watching us while I was growing up. And to tell you the truth, up until my senior year in high school I probably would have ended up like everybody else. I was the geek of the bunch since I got good grades but I still wanted to be like my dad and my brother, you know? But then I changed my mind and I decided I wasn't proud of the family business and that I wanted to work for the other team to try and counter some of the Messer history. I went to college then the police academy and never looked back."

To his eternal surprise, Gail looked at his with sympathy. "So you don't talk to anyone in your family? That's tragic."

"Well, I got one cousin who's a straight like me, he's a lawyer. And there's my ma- she married my dad before she really knew what he was and she never liked it. He got killed my freshman year in college. When he died she left. She just left the house and everything my dad had ever bought her and got a job as a teacher. Me and my brother were both raised and she had no reason to stick around the neighborhood. And they've left her alone, I guess out of respect for my dad. That's probably why they leave me alone too. _More or less. _So I have her and Tony. We're pretty close. My ma is Tony's replacement mother because my Aunt Gina and Uncle Vince don't want nothin' to do with him."

"What about your brother?" Hank asked. "Do you have any contact with him?"

Danny winced, it was still painful to think about Louie and everything he'd gone through. But Lindsay was holding his hand. That helped. "We didn't talk for over 10 years. Then last year things one guy made a bit of trouble for me and Louie got my back. But he got beat real bad as a result and was in a coma for 8 months… Once he woke up they put him in solitary upstate in Rikers." Louie had been convicted of aiding Sonny in that murder as well as a bunch of other crimes including extortion and assault; he should have gotten a deal but the ADA was too excited at nabbing two big Tanglewood fish to consider the risk Louie went through to help catch Sonny. "I've been trying to get him to turn State's Evidence. I know he won't turn on the family but I gotta try. So I've visited him a few times. The Feds'll let me see him 'cause they want him to go S.E. too."

Gail, Hank, and Ashley all just stared at Danny for a few minutes. A_w shit. They were starting to like me and now that's all screwed. I'm gonna get chased outta here in a minute…nobody wants their daughter to date a guy with connections…They've all seen the Godfather and who wants to deal with that shit?_

Finally, Hank spoke. "Well, nobody can help their family. It's just something we're born with. It's the choices we make in life that matter." Gail nodded.

Danny was stunned. _Is this family channeling Gandhi or something? What the hell?_

Gail smiled at him. "You're a CSI. You help solve crimes, you don't commit them. That's all that matters. It would be terrible to hold your family against you because there's nothing you can do about them apart from what you've already done. I'd like to think that the Monroes are a little more understanding than that."

Lindsay leaned over and hugged Danny around the neck. _I told him not to worry. And it's so sweet that he was so willing to open up to people who are essentially strangers on my behalf…_

He gave both Gail and Hank a shaky smile. "Well, wow. I appreciate that. I really do." He turned to Lindsay and grinned. "I see now where your daughter's wonderful nature came from. Now I just need to figure out which one of you to thank for her temper..."

Hank smirked. "That'd be her mother. Her family always was feisty." They all laughed, relieved at the change in topics. They all focused on their pie for a few moments.

Danny, however, was thinking about the clan of aunts and uncles and other assorted kin he was set to meet this week. He cleared his throat slightly. "Um, can I ask you guys a favor? Do you think you could wait until we go back to New York to tell everybody else about my family? I don't mind if they know, it's just if that's the first thing they find out about me it tends to color how they see me. It's been my experience that they think I'm gonna be just like Tony Soprano or something and then everything I do is interpreted that way. I'd rather make an impression as me first."

Gail nodded. "Of course, Danny. In fact, I don't really see why we need to tell them at all. It's not really their business."

Danny smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you. I really don't mind if you want them to know but honestly, it'd be easier if they didn't 'cause it's so complicated and ugly. I usually just tell people I had a falling out with my family."

"So why didn't you say that to us? And why did you tell us this on the first day you're here if you worry about how it affects first impressions?" Hank was curious.

Danny shrugged. "Well, that wouldn't really be a decent thing for me to do, would it? If I never told you and somehow you found out I'd seem like a phony jackass. And you might not believe me when I told you I'm not into that life. And it wouldn't be a whole lot better for me to go, 'Hey, my family's in the mob!' right before I hopped on a plane home. You're Montana's parents, I love her, I want you to like me. I figured honesty was the best policy in this case. You oughta know who I am, I oughta be upfront."

Hank was impressed. _He seems to have integrity. And courage. So I guess he's ok in my book. But let's see how well he shoots first…_

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After dinner and a quick tour of the farm Danny faded fast. Lindsay was excited to get updated on family gossip but the time change had wiped him out. Eventually, he stood up. "Gotta go to bed. Can't keep eyes open. Sorry." He kissed the top of Lindsay's head. "You stay. Talk to family. And don't worry about wakin' me later. Love you. Night, Monroes." And he staggered out to the carriage house.

Lindsay looked at her parents nervously. "So what do you think?"

Gail smiled. "I think he's a marvelous young man. I'm just ecstatic that you finally found somebody you could open up to and who will make you happy." _I was afraid after Tom you'd never let yourself love again. _Hank grunted in agreement. _As long as you're happy, little girl, I'm happy._  
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A/N: Sorry for the delay- having all sorts of computer issues.


	17. Chapter 17

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Someone was tickling Danny's face with a piece of straw. He tried to ignore it but ultimately gave up. "Alright, I'm awake." He opened his eyes to see Lindsay standing over him, already dressed and holding a cup of coffee in her hands. "You seem chipper," he growled, taking the coffee from her.

"I've been up since 5:30. Whenever I'm home my body automatically resets to farm mode."

"5:30? What did you do that for?"

She pulled him out of bed. "I wanted to help Daddy with the horses. And speaking of horses…"

"Oh no, don't even. I never agreed to that. I love you but c'mon babe…have some pity on this city fella."

She wrapped her arms around him. "What if I told you that I went through the attic this morning? And found my box of high school stuff? And that my old cheerleading uniform happened to be in that box?"

Danny's eyes lit up. "If you told me that, I'd tell you that I'll ride a camel for ya if I get to SEE you in that uniform."

"In that case, I did find my uniform. Though I doubt it'll fit. So you'll let me take you on a ride this morning?" _I set you up for that one Messer. I know what you're gonna say now…_

"Only if you take me on another one tonight." He winked at her. "And I've no doubt that you'll still fit in your uniform. There's not an ounce of extra weight on you, you've gotta be the same size as high school. Maybe parts of you are bigger…" his hand brushed against her breast. "and I ain't complaining." He had a decidedly predatory look in his eyes as he held her tighter. "If your top is a little tight, it wouldn't be a bad thing."

"So I wear the outfit and you ride the horse?"

"Sure." Danny kissed her. "Baby, I'd have done it anyway. You really didn't need to bribe me to do anything. I was gonna whine a little but I'd have caved eventually. You know I can't say no to you." _Flack says I'm whipped. I say I'm lucky._

He looked down at his girlfriend who had a mile-wide grin on her face. _Yup, I'm lucky_.

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"Do I gotta wear the cowboy hat?"_ I bet I look ridiculous._

"Would you like your skull to split open when you fall? It's either the hat or the helmet." _Please please PLEASE say hat._

"Fine. Hat"

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Danny was sore in places he didn't know it was possible to be sore in. _I know why the Marlboro Man always looked so unhappy now._ Despite the pain, he had to admit he was having a good time. He was on a really old horse that didn't move that fast and didn't scare easily, so he hadn't fallen off. Lindsay had taken them on a trail through the woods on a nearby mountain and it was actually very pretty. But best of all, Lindsay hadn't stopped grinning. _Montana looks like a kid in a candy store. Or Stella in a shoe store_. Nothing made him happier than seeing her happy, especially since he had so many mental images of her looking sad or angry or upset because of work and the drama from the past year.

The morning flew by. After a while, Lindsay came to a stop in a secluded clearing near a stream that led to a small pool. She hopped off her horse and grabbed the bag that she'd had tied behind her saddle. She tied her horse to a tree near the stream so he could drink if he wanted, then pulled a blanket out of the bag and laid it on the ground. "Lunchtime, baby."

Meanwhile, Danny was having a hard time dismounting. It hurt to move. _Ok, maybe if I just lean to the side and fall off…well THAT hurt. Dumb idea. Shit._

Lindsay had looked up when she heard a loud thump and saw Danny on his ass. She chuckled then walked over so she could get his horse. She finished tying the older animal to the tree then looked back at Danny. He hadn't moved. He was still on the ground, on his ass, wincing. "Aw, baby you in pain?"

Danny heard the teasing tone in her voice, so he clenched his teeth and hissed, "Yes." _As I'm sure you damn well know._

"See, that's a shame because I was hoping we could fool around a little before we ate."

Suddenly Danny wasn't sore anymore. He jumped up and hurried over to her, taking her in his arms, his mouth covering hers. He'd long ago realized that sex with Lindsay was a universal tonic for him. No matter how sick he felt, no matter how much he hurt, it all disappeared. It came back afterwards, of course, but that wasn't important. He didn't want to think about being sore again in an hour. He was thinking about much more pleasant things.

They quickly scrambled out of their clothes though there was a slight delay as Danny struggled to get his boots off. Lindsay was thrilled; this was a big fantasy of hers. _He was wearing the hat and the boots and he looked good on that horse even if it was new for him and my GOD I want him so bad! _She loved that Danny was a city kind of guy but deep in her heart there was a soft spot for cowboys. She pushed him down to the blanket and without giving him any warning she lowered herself onto him.

They finished quicker than they usually did; Danny always made a point of waiting until she finished before letting himself come. And Lindsay was so excited after seeing Cowboy Danny she didn't take long at all. They lay spent in each others arms, panting.

Finally, Danny spoke. "I love horseback riding." _Don't understand why I was so opposed to it now._

Lindsay nuzzled into his neck. "Danny, we are taking a cowboy hat for you home with us, is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." It was nice to be the one that frantically turned her on like she always does for me. Lindsay was really good at bringing his fantasies to life and he always volunteered to do the same but she never took him up on it. He realized now that he probably couldn't fulfill most of them in the city._ I'll just have to cram as many into this week as I can._

They cuddled for a bit longer, the blanket wrapped around them. Lindsay pulled on her shirt and Danny pulled on his jeans but when he reached for his shirt she said "Don't bother" and winked at him. They had an enjoyable picnic lunch, with Danny admiring the surroundings and Lindsay telling him stories about growing up out here.

At one point Danny glanced at his horse and noticed the animal was staring at them. "Um, Montana? Why do I feel weird that we had sex in front of the horses?" She laughed.

She climbed out of the blanket and walked over to the stream. Danny went to follow her but found his sore muscles had returned with a vengeance and he couldn't stand up.

"How much does it bother you to be naked in front of a horse, Danny? Because if you get in the swimming hole for a bit your muscles won't hurt so much." And she took her shirt off again and hopped in.

It hurt to move, but the idea of A) skinny dipping with Montana and B) relief for his sore muscles ultimately won out. He made it to the pool, took of his jeans, and lowered himself in.

"SHIT! THAT'S COLD!" _Why didn't she warn me? Dammit dammit dammit..._

She laughed. "That's the idea! It'll be good for your legs. And you'll get used to it in a minute." She was right and they had a fun time splashing around, despite the fact that the horses were looking on.

After a while, Lindsay stopped trying to dunk Danny and started kissing him. T_his must be something else she's wanted to do…I dunno if I can make this happen for her though. This water is frickin' COLD. _Her hand moved and Danny discovered that his worrying was for nothing. _Come rain, come sleet, come icy cold water and creepy voyeuristic horses nothing is gonna stop me from sex with Montana! _Luckily, the pool only came up to Lindsay's shoulders so Danny could easily stand. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he happily made another one of her dreams come true. _I'd walk over coals for this woman but if what she wants me to do is fuck her in some mountain stream who am I to argue?_

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They arrived back at the barn eventually. Danny was sore all over again from the ride back. This time, though, Lindsay was there to help him get off the horse. "C'mon, cowboy. Let's get you into a hot shower." He hobbled along next to her, his arm around her shoulder, finally understanding the concept of bowleggedness.

They reached the carriage house and Danny collapsed on the bed. "You shower first, hon. I'm just gonna focus on non-movement for a little while ok?"

Lindsay leaned down and gave him a quick kiss. "I just wanted to thank you for today, Danny. That clearing was always my special place when I was a kid; that was my own personal swimming hole. And I've wanted to do what we did today for quite some time." _Like, say, since I was 17._

"Hey, you don't gotta thank me for nothing, hon. It's not like you made me do anything I didn't want to do. I sure as hell enjoyed myself. And you do stuff like that all the time for me. Like that cheerleading uniform." He gave her his most devilish smile.

"I know. Still. Thanks." _Yeah, we are definitely taking a hat home._  
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	18. Chapter 18

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Danny sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes. _Man, meeting family is EXHAUSTING! _After recovering from his first time on a horse, Danny joined Lindsay at her mother's sister's house for dinner. It was the weird aunt, the one with 35 cats and the lazy eye, but Danny was pretty sure things had gone swimmingly. He had the ultimate card up his sleeve after all: he was a cat person. _Yeah, Aunt Flo likes me. Can cross her off the list…_

He smiled at Lindsay as she came back into the carriage house, finished with whatever morning chores she had. His glasses weren't on yet so she was beautiful in a fuzzy kind of way. _She looks like an angel…or 'Waterlilies.'_ "So babe, what's on the agenda for today?"

She didn't respond right away and even without his glasses he could tell something was wrong. When she got closer he realized that she looked upset and a little nervous.

"Um, every time I come home I do this thing where I kinda go see Tom and I was wondering if you'd come with me this time."

"Of course!" _What does she mean, see Tom? I thought that his family was from the complete other end of Montana... wouldn't he be in a cemetery near them?_

She gave him a small, sad smile. "Thanks, Danny. I appreciate it. Get dressed, and wear your boots. We have to go on a bit of a hike to get there."_ This is going to be so strange…_

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It was a hike. They were on the same woods as yesterday but a completely different trail. After about an hour and a half, they came to another clearing. This one was smaller than the one they'd stopped at yesterday but it was much more beautiful. There were no trees, the sun was shining down, and there were tons of wildflowers. Lindsay walked over to the corner of the clearing where there were several large boulders.

"Tom's parents knew that I'd never really be able to visit his grave since they live up north near Havre, so they gave me a small portion of his ashes. I decided to bury them up here because it always seemed to idyllic to me when I was a kid. I wanted him to be in a peaceful place…"

"It is peaceful. It's a little paradise. I understand why you picked it."

"Thank you. Ok, I'm going to talk to Tom for a little bit, you don't have to go anywhere or anything. Just stand next to me."

"You sure? I can give you some privacy…"

"No, I want you here. I guess I'd kind of like you two to meet, in some weird astrophysical/mystical way." She cleared her throat and looked down at the ground. She always felt awkward whenever she did this but it made her feel better in the end. "Hey Tom, its Lin. It's August again so I'm home. It's been a pretty crazy year for me…things weren't going so well for a while and I had a couple of scary moments at work. But things are really good now. Remember I told you about Danny last year? Well we started dating about 5 months ago and I'm in love. I know that you'd want me to be happy, but I want you to know that I'm not replacing you in my heart…It's just time for me to move on. I wrote you this letter, and I guess if you can read it at all you could have read it when I wrote it but I wanted to leave it here for you anyway…I talked to a psychologist for a while a few months back and it made me realize some things. Remember what you said about fate? It seems so cruel that fate would want us to be together for just those few months, but I don't regret it for a minute. For a while I hated that we'd dated at all because I thought you might still be alive if we hadn't. But I know now that I shouldn't think that way because it doesn't respect what we had and will just eat me up inside. So instead I just wish that I'd agreed to go out with you earlier…we would have had a few more months together that way. Anyway, it seems like the universe meant for all this to happen and like you said, who am I to try and mess up the universe's plans? I've accepted it."

She took Danny's hand in hers. "This is Danny. I think you two would like each other, you have the same sense of humor. And the same taste in women, apparently. Anyway, he treats me really good, Tom. Like a queen. So you don't need to worry about me. I don't know where you are or what you're doing really, but I know I was stuck in a bad place for almost 10 years because I wasn't ready to stop grieving and move on. If by any chance you've been the same way I want you to know that you can move on now too. I'll be ok here. I have Danny and friends to look out for me. And remember that I'm always going to love you."

Danny's heart was breaking not just for the woman he loved but for the other man she loved. _He thought he was gonna get to spend the rest of his life with this wonderful woman and have that bliss that few people find and that was taken from him by a couple of punks._ He silently apologized to Tom for taking his place. _If you're the kind of guy Montana tells me you are (and of course you are) I know you want her to be happy. But shit, it's gotta be painful for you and I'm really sorry. Just know that I'm as crazy about her as you were and I'll take as good care of her as you would have. I'd die before I hurt her, I swear. And if I ever do break her heart (which ain't gonna happen but just in case) you have my permission to haunt me and make my life miserable because I'll totally fucking deserve it._

Lindsay set an envelope on the ground and they stood there for several minutes in silence, staring at the flowers and the rocks. Finally, she tugged at his hand. "I'm ready to go, Danny. Thank you." _For everything._

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The hike back had been comfortably silent for the most part. By the time they reached the carriage house the tears that had been lightly streaming down Lindsay's face had dried and she was feeling like a weight was off her shoulders. She decided to try and lighten the mood for Danny, too.

"So Messer, you ready to brave the firing range with my pa this afternoon while I go out with my sister?"

Danny paled. He'd completely forgotten. _Oh SHIT. This really isn't a good day in any sense._ "Um, I guess I'm as ready as I'm gonna be. You're positive he ain't gonna shoot me? Especially now that he knows about the Messers being a bit like Pacino & Brando?"

She laughed. "I swear that Daddy isn't going to harm a hair on that cute head of yours. But watch some of the old coots down there- their vision isn't so good and they drink like fish. Makes for a risky combo."

"Thanks for the warning, Montana." _Great, I think I'm having a heart-attack._

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Danny watched uncomfortably as Hank aimed the shotgun. He flinched a bit when Hank yelled, "Pull!" and he flinched even more when Hank fired. _Hail Mary, full of grace…_

When it was his turn to fire, he looked at the gun Hank was offering a bit skeptically. "Just so ya know, the only time I ever fired one of these was in the Ballistics Lab. And they aim it for us there. And we're shooting big gelatin blocks, not little clay discs. But I'll give it a go. Please don't laugh when I miss." Surprisingly, he hit a third of the discs.

Hank was impressed. "Not bad for your first time."

Danny shrugged. "I did play 'Duckhunt' on Nintendo when I was kid. It's hardly the same in any sense, but it meant I was a bit familiar with the general idea. Anyway, this isn't really the kind of shooting they train us to do. We're not picking stuff out of the sky, we're shooting dead ahead. Our moving targets are running, not flying. But hey, if they'd let me try this with my gun I might do better."

Hank shook his head. "I don't think they let you do skeet hunting with handguns. So let's go over to the target range. That might be more up your alley.

It was. Danny always did well on his proficiency exam for his 9mm. Hank eyed Danny's target a bit nervously- Danny had picked the human silhouette and the heart region was completely shot out. "I see you shoot to kill…"

Danny shrugged again. "We're supposed to in some cases. However, the only time I ever shot a perp I shot him in the arm so he'd drop his weapon. I don't know how I'd handle killing somebody. I hope I'm never in that position."

Hank agreed with the young man, and suggested they shoot for a bit longer then get sometime to drink at the bar the range had.

Danny sat down on a stool in the dimly-lit lounge section of the shooting club. It reminded him a bit of a VFW he'd visited as part of an investigation- a handful of old guys sitting around drinking beer in the middle of the afternoon. He nodded his head at the trio sitting at the other end of the bar. _Those must be the guys Montana was telling me about. Man, that one guy's glaucoma is pretty scary- I don't think I'd want to be anywhere nearby when he's shootin'…_

"Hey Larry, Hey Bob, Hey Phil," Hank said to the group who looked like they had a combined age of 150 but not a complete set of teeth between them. "This is Lindsay's boyfriend, Detective Danny Messer. He came with her on her visit home this year."

The old men smiled at him. _Yup, not really winners in the teeth department. Is that what categorizes them as coots? I'm not really up on my Midwestern slang._

"A detective! Son, you don't look old enough to be a hall monitor!" said the one Danny thought Hank had called Larry, the glaucoma guy.

"Well, while I'm technically a detective I'm actually a CSI."

"What the hell is that?" asked Larry.

"Well, CSI stands for Crime Scene Investigator. So I process crime scenes and work in the lab like Lindsay does analyzing evidence. But I interview people and solve cases, so a CSI is really a detective/scientist."

"You don't say. I didn't know that's what you folks did," chimed Phil(?). _They sure look alike._

"Yep. It's a pretty rewarding job." _And it has its perks…I get to work with Montana after all._

"Tell us a story Danny-boy. We've all heard each others stories a thousand times and we need some new ones," said the third man. _Ok, that's gotta be Bob if I've got the other two right._

"Sure. Do you want regular gross or full-out disturbing?"

"Hmm, let's go for a disturbing one now and a gross one next," said Larry after consulting with his buddies.

"Okay. Serial killer or other kind of psycho?"

"Serial killer!" Bob answered, enthusiastically.

_Figures. It's always the innocent looking old people who want to know all the sick details and watch all that true crime shit on Court TV. _"Ok, well there was this case a couple of years ago. I can't tell you the guy's name but I can tell you about it..."

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After regaling the old men, bartender, and Hank with many stories, including Lindsay and the tiger and what exactly they did in the reconstruction lab, Hank announced it was time to head out. "Gail'll have supper ready and she'll have my hide if we're late. Like that guy you were telling us about who skinned people."

"It was nice meeting you Danny-boy," Bob said. Phil and Larry nodded. "Next time you visit, you stop in and tell us some more stories, ok?"

"Definitely, sir. I'll do my best to make sure we have lots of interesting cases in the meantime, just for you three." He grinned.

"So you're a people-person," Hank said as they drove back to the farm.

Danny shrugged. "I guess so, but it's something that I've honed more than something that I was born with. I do lots of interviewing with my friend who's a detective and you've got to be able to talk to people if you do that. You can't just yell at people, sometimes you've got to get them comfortable so they open up. But I do like people, and I'm not really shy very often. Except sometimes when I'm meeting the fathers of girls I love who happen to be three times my size and are good shots." He grinned at Hank who laughed.

"Since you brought it up, what do you want with Lindsay? I didn't want to ask you back at the club because it might be mean to do the 'What are your intentions towards my daughter?!' talk while holding a shotgun."

"Thanks. I might have wet my pants if you had. And any respect that you might have had for me would just sail out the window."

"Don't mention it. Now spill."

"Well, what I want with Lindsay is forever. I wanna marry her. But not for a while. Actually, that's not true. I want to marry her tomorrow but I know we haven't been dating long enough. I'm also not sure how she'd handle a proposal considering her history. If you don't completely despise me, I'll probably ask sometime around the holidays."

"I have no objections." He smiled at Danny. _Especially since you seem to really care about her and how she's handling this relationship- you aren't pushing her._

"That's a big relief. You have no idea how many nightmares I've had where you bellow 'OF COURSE NOT YOU NEW YORK PIECE OF SHIT!'" They both chuckled.

"Um, there was something else I wanted to ask you," Danny said. "And I have no idea how you'll receive this since Montana hasn't really mentioned how conservative or anything you are… if hypothetically speaking I asked her to move in with me would that be a big deal for you? Because if you and Gail are totally opposed to that kinda thing, I won't ask."

"That would be a big deal for us only in the sense that you'd be saving our little girl money. I imagine that you two have got a vestigial apartment situation going on right now. Why pay all those extra expenses? Especially since rent is so high in the city. Plus, we've been nervous about her living on her own. Though I suspect she hasn't really been living on her own for the last few months." His eyes glanced sideways at Danny with a knowing look.

Danny blushed a little bit. "No, not really. We alternate nights right now but it'd be a lot easier-not to mention cheaper-to just downsize to one place. And it's good to know that you're cool with that."

It was Hank's turn to shrug. "Completely cool with it. I'm not sure I could have stopped you regardless. Lindsay is a grown woman and is capable of making her own choices. If she wanted to live with you, our objections might give her pause but they certainly wouldn't have stopped her."

"Yeah, I know that," Danny said, thinking about Montana's stubborn streak. "I just also know what its like to be alienated from your family and if I can prevent that from happening with you folks that'd be a wonderful thing, ya know? Especially since you've got a serious Cleaver situation going on with your family."

Hank laughed. "I guess that makes me Ward?"

"Hey, be flattered. Montana told me you were a teddy bear. I thought it might be pushing it for me to say so."

"Just a bit- I might have liked it better when you thought I was a grizzly bear." He smiled. "Well we're home. Let's go see what June made for dinner, ok?" He gave Danny one of those 'sidesway-manhugs' and headed into the house.

Danny looked at the big man's back and smiled. _You know, I might end up with another father. And a nice one this time. That'd be pretty cool. Just one more reason to love Montana- she comes fully stocked with a great family._

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	19. Chapter 19

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Danny was singing in the shower- well, warbling. He'd woken up ecstatically happy- last night at dinner Lindsay had seemed to be doing ok with what had happened in the morning regarding Tom and his talk with Hank had gone better then he could have ever imagined. _He'd be ok with me marryin' _ _Montana__…now it's just a matter of waiting until _ _Montana__ is ok with it. And I'm not so bad at waiting…Better than I used ta be, anyway… _

"Danny, stop it, you're scaring the horses." Lindsay climbed into the shower behind him and placed her little hands over his mouth. He turned to her and smiled, no longer feeling the urge to sing. He had other things to do with his mouth now.

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The earth moved and Danny and Lindsay were left lying panting on the bathroom floor. They'd learned a while ago that slick, wet surfaces such as tubs were not the place for them to engage in actual intercourse. Their lovemaking was a little too enthusiastic and they'd only narrowly escaped being hurt in the past- at the last minute Danny had caught them before they went through the glass door of his shower. Cold tile floors were infinitely preferable to gaping wounds.

He pushed himself up onto one side and looked down at his girlfriend. "God Montana! You wear me out. And considering I just woke up from a restful night's sleep, that's really sayin' something."

"You better not be too worn out, Danny. I'm taking you on a tour of my town today and there's lots to see." _Plus I'm planning on showing off my sexy New Yorker to everyone… _

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Danny soon realized that Lindsay wasn't really from Bozeman. She was from a little town about an hour away from the city called Pike's Crossing. However, as Lindsay's town was small enough that you might miss it under a microscope, everyone just said they were from Bozeman. He thought of it as geographical rounding: people aren't going to understand where you're from when you're from a place like Pike's Crossing unless you round up to something bigger that's nearby. Besides, an hour's drive was nothing to Montana residents so they genuinely considered themselves as inhabitants of the city. 

It was a cute little town, but beyond Danny's comprehension as a city boy. _There's only one place to buy food? And two restaurants? How do these people survive!?! _Downtown Pike's Crossing consisted of a diner, a slightly fancier café, a gas station, a building that was the post office/town hall/courthouse/police station, a run-down tavern and a nicer bar, a Salvation Army, a small shop that sold new clothes, and an all-purpose hang-out spot for people that had coffee, pool, and video games. There were also about 12 churches. _Why so many churches for such a little town? I bet the whole population of this place could fit in those two big ones... Probably some big anthropological explanation that I don't really want to know. _

They walked around 'the Pike' (as Lindsay called it) for most of the day. When they were downtown they ran into a bunch of people Lindsay knew, especially when they stopped for lunch in the diner. They all greeted him warmly but Danny still felt like he had a giant neon sign over his head that flashed "OUTSIDER." He certainly wasn't going to blend in; he never thought of himself as an overly spiffy dresser (despite Flack's teasing) but he was standing out like a sore thumb out here even in jeans and a t-shirt. Lindsay was wearing 'city clothes' too but she still had that Montana aura and everyone knew who she was, so no funny looks in her direction. He noticed his movements were conspicuous, too. He was more antsy than anyone they encountered and his hand gestures were almost comical.

But worst of all was the way everyone reacted when he started to talk. The more polite ones restricted their response to uplifted eyebrows at his accent, but a good portion of the Pike's Crossing population broke into laughter. _It's not THAT bad. And if they think I'm hard to understand they should hear my ma…_He tried to let it run off his back like water on a duck. _Serves me right for all the times I mocked tourists when they come to my city. They're all getting payback in one lump sum. I can take some good-natured teasing from some basically nice people. _After a while he was cracking jokes with everyone else about how out-of-place he was, which made Lindsay feel a lot better. She'd noticed how uncomfortable he was at first and had contemplated just taking him back to the farm early.

After lunch, Lindsay took him by her old high school-a laughably small building surrounded by acres of athletics fields. "See, there's the softball field and there's the football field. We take sports very seriously in the Pike. It's not like there's much else to do."

"Yeah, what did you do when you were in high school Mizz Monroe? Did you really tip cows?"

She laughed. "Well, maybe once. But most of my friends stopped doing that after my friend Billy ended up in the hospital. He tried to tip a bull one night when he was drunk and that got pretty ugly. For the most part we hung out at people's houses watching movies, maybe drinking some beers we stole from our parents. Friday nights in the fall there was always a football game. I went on a few pathetically lame dates. And once the first person in our group of friends got their license, we went into the city so we could go to the movies or the mall or something. You know, normal stuff." Danny nodded, although he hadn't really done much of that 'normal stuff' while he was a teenager. His life had been anything but normal, after all.

"I was busy with school a lot, too. I had all honors classes and then there was cheerleading and softball. Plus 4-H and FFA of course." Lindsay continued.

"FFA? Whazzat?"

"Future Farmers of America." She gave him a glare that said 'go ahead and laugh but it'll be the last thing you ever do.'

He stifled a chuckle and instead nodded his head seriously. "Ah, that. We had that at my school too."

She looked at him in surprise. "Really? That's a shock."

He grinned and took her in his arms. "Yeah, well our FFA was actually Future Felons of America. Same diff, really..."

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"So do you want to drive to Bozeman this afternoon? It's where I got my first job after college and I lived there for a few years. I thought I was ready for New York after living in that bustling metropolis." She smiled at her own naïveté. 

"If you want to babe. This is your tour. I'm just following you around and having a good time listening to ya talk…_One of my favorite activities. _You know that I'll probably scoff at your little city though. I won't mean to, I just won't be able to help it." He smirked at her.

"Yeah, I figured. There's not that much to see really. And we'd have to hurry back anyway because we're eating at Joe's tonight. Maybe next year, ok? That is, if you want to come again…" She trailed off a bit uncertainly.

He didn't say anything but gave her a massive grin and held her tight. _You can just count on me coming back here with you. I'm gonna stick to you like a barnacle, _ _Montana__. For always. _

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"So your brother has HOW many kids?" They were on the way to Lindsay's brother's house and Danny was mentally preparing himself.

"Four. The oldest, Isabelle, is 15. The youngest, Jeanie, is 6. Matt is 8 and Timmy is 9."

"Oh, ok…" _15? Joe isn't that much older than _ _Montana_

"Yeah, Isabelle is technically 'Ax version 2.0' but Susie won't let us call her that. She was 19 and Joe was 20 when Izzy was born. But it wasn't that big a deal- they'd been dating since the 6th grade and had already planned on getting married. Izzy just bumped the time table up a bit. They're very happy with how things worked out. Anyway, they're all great kids, you're going to love them."

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Danny found he was nervous again at the thought of meeting Montana's older brother. _Figures, I smooth things out with her dad and now I've gotta meet another big ol' _ _Monroe__…_However, as soon as the front door opened and Danny saw Joe's face, his nerves disappeared. _If _ _Montana__ thinks her dad is the teddy bear, what does she call this guy?_

Joe Monroe was a mountain of a man with the spirit of a child. His smile was one of the most genuine that Danny had ever seen and his eyes lit up at the sight of his little sister. "Lin-Lin! You're home!" He wrapped the small woman in a bear hug. After spinning her around, he turned to Danny. "And you must be her man! I'm so glad to finally meet you, Danny." Then he picked Danny up and swung him around, too. He laughed at the shocked look on Danny's face when he set him down. "Oh, sorry about that, boss. It's just how I'm used to hugging people with all my little ones running around…Anyway, come in! Come in! Susie and the kids have been dying to see you, Lin-Lin. And they all want to meet you, Danny."

They soon heard a cacophony of "AUNT LINDSAY!s" She found herself being swarmed by her nieces and nephews. When they were done hugging her, they seized her arms and pulled her into the family room.

"So I guess that gives us some time to get to know one another, Danno. My kids'll hound Lin-Lin for a good while now. Come and meet the missus." He led Danny into the dining room and to a prettily plump blond woman who was busy setting the table. "Sweetheart, I was going to do that!"

Susie looked up at her husband and smiled. "Don't be ridiculous, Joe! You cooked dinner. You can at least let me do this." She sighed at Danny. "You'll have to excuse my husband. He seems to think that me taking care of the scheduling and finances for his business leaves me unable to do anything else. Anyway, it sure is nice to meet you. Lindsay always raves about you whenever we talk."

"Now honey, it's our business and I just want you to take things easy for a while…" He turned to Danny with a massive grin on his face. "She's pregnant again! 4 months!" The pride and happiness in his voice made Danny grin in return.

"Congratulations! Although can I ask where you're going to put this one? Your house seems a bit packed as it is."

Joe shrugged. "Ah, that's not a problem. Me and dad'll just put on another addition. The real problem is how are we gonna feed this one. As you might have noticed, we have two future teenage boys and their upcoming metabolisms are giving me nightmares!" They laughed. "All joking aside, we're just pleased as punch. Especially since we've already sworn that this'll be the last one."

"We say that NOW, Joseph. But we said that about Jeanie, too!" Susie chuckled. "I don't want to scare you or anything Danny, but the Monroes are a fertile bunch. Consider yourself warned…Ok now, you guys bring in the food from the kitchen and I'll go round up the rest of the gang."

Dinner was chaotic, but an enjoyable kind of craziness. All the kids were talking at once yet the adults managed to carry on an interesting conversation nonetheless. He found himself liking Lindsay's brother and sister-in-law a lot, and was envious of their family life. _Maybe one day me and _ _Montana__ will have our own brood of hyper hellions… _

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After dinner, it was Danny's turned to be mobbed by the Monroe children. Matt and Timmy each took an arm. "You wanna play video games with us Danny? C'mon!" Izzy smiled shyly at him and Jeanie gave him an adorable gap-toothed grin. 

"How could I say no?" he answered with a smile and let himself be towed into the family room and pushed down onto a beat-up couch.

Jeanie crawled up onto the couch next to him and started playing with her Disney Princess doll, talking quietly to herself. Izzy began to set up the PS2 while Matt and Timmy sat on the floor in front of him. Danny, Izzy, and Matt started playing some kind of racecar game. Timmy tried to explain the buttons to Danny but it was too much for him and he handed over his controller to Timmy.

"Listen guys, when I was your age video games had 3 buttons at the most. How 'bout I just watch you guys race for a while?" While they played he told them about Atari and the original Nintendo, which seemed to fascinate them the same way people like to go to museums and gape at Ancient Egyptian stuff.

After a while, Timmy turned and looked up at Danny. "You talk funny."

Danny laughed. _Ah, to be young and have no brain-mouth filter…_ "Apparently. I didn't know I did till I came to Montana though. Back where I grew up, everybody talks like me. And so does a lotta people on the force, so I never noticed really."

Timmy and Matt both dropped their controllers and turned to look up at him, their faces shining with awe.

"So you're a policeman? That's SO cool! Can I see your badge?" Timmy pleaded. Danny handed it to him and a fight promptly broke out. "I want it!" "No, I asked first!" "But I want to play with it!" etc

Danny interrupted. "Whoa there! There's an easy solution to this. Matt, go ask your aunt for her badge. Then you'll each have one."

Matt's jaw dropped. "Aunt Lindsay has a badge? But she's not a REAL cop."

Danny let out a combination groan and chuckle. "Why do you say that?" _Its bad enough we get this shit from strangers but _ _Montana__ gets it from her own family? Poor girl. _

"Because she told us she mostly does experiments and stuff…and she doesn't have a gun." Matt explained.

"That doesn't mean she's not a real cop. I do the same stuff as her. And what we do is really important."

Timmy looked skeptical. "It is?"

"Well, yeah! You know the cops on TV who show up to arrest people and put the bad guys in handcuffs?" The boys nodded. "How do you think they know who to arrest? You have to figure out who did it before you can get to the chase scenes. And that's what we do. We look at the places where the crime happened and take a bunch of tiny little clues and put them together to figure out just who the bad guy is. It's like putting a puzzle together. We're detectives, just like on TV. We're just detectives who do 'experiments and stuff.'"

"COOL!" the boys said together.

"Tell you what, you ever come to visit your aunt in New York I'll show you around the station and show you some of the neat stuff that we get to play with in the lab. Some of the experiments we do are lots of fun." He smiled at the children in front of him. "And just so you know, chasin' bad guys isn't fun. It's just annoying."

Matt was thrilled. "You chase bad guys? Do you arrest people too?"

Danny laughed. "Yeah, I've arrested lots of people. Sometimes I even have to knock them down to get them to stop running." _They'll probably think that's the most amazing thing ever…it's a shame my back doesn't agree   
_

"AWESOME!" cried Timmy. "Do you have a gun? Did you ever shoot anybody?"

"Yes and yes, but I didn't kill the guy. I only shot him in the arm and he was ok. And a couple of months ago I got shot but I was wearing a bulletproof vest so I was ok too."

He laughed at the look of wonder on their little faces. _And now to totally make them think I'm cool…_ "I actually have one of the bullets that hit me, do you want to see?"

They nodded so vigorously he thought their heads were going to come off. He pulled out the chain he always wore around his neck to show them the bullet that now rested there along with the dog tags that had belonged to his maternal grandfather. He'd asked Mac if he could have the bullets from the shooting and Mac had bent protocol a little bit and handed them over after the jackass who shot him pled guilty to a bunch of charges. He had taken them to the jeweler and had a small ring attached to one so he could add it to his chain. The other he'd had made into a keychain and given to Montana.

Timmy and Matt stared at the bullet with wide eyes. Then they jumped up, inspired, and immediately started playing cops and robbers. He had to chuckle at their enthusiasm, especially when Matt decided he didn't want to get tackled anymore (he was the bad guy to Timmy's 'Detective Danny') and ran to get Lindsay's badge. Soon they were both pretending to tackle and shoot criminals.

Danny glanced sideways at Izzy, who was watching her brothers with a small smile on her face. _She seems shy…What do you talk about with a 15 year old girl? OK, I'm gonna just assume that most of 'em like sappy stuff…_ "You know, this bullet is the reason your aunt and I are together."

Izzy looked at him with her eyes lit up. Danny had guessed right, she loved romantic stories.

"See, I fell for your Aunt Lindsay a couple of months after she came to live in New York. And she had a big ol' crush on me, too. But for the longest time we didn't do anything about our feelings 'cause we were both nervous and frightened about things. Her especially." Izzy nodded, as she was familiar with her aunt's tragic history. "But then I got shot and everything that I was scared about didn't seem so important anymore, you know? _Hawkes says that I had a moment of existential clarity, whatever the hell that means. _ So she ran up to me a couple of minutes after I got shot and I kissed her without really thinking about it. I was just so happy to be alive and to have a chance to do it. And fortunately she didn't mind that I did it which she proved by kissin' me. So since then I've been the happiest guy in the entire world. I like to joke that the day I got shot was the best day of my life." He smiled

"And so that's why you wear the bullet around your neck? That is so sweet!" Izzy said with a small sigh. She pulled her little sister onto her lap. "So what do you think, Jeanie? Was it a good story?" The little girl looked up at her sister blankly. Izzy explained in terms she could understand: "Danny loves Aunt Lindsay like Aladdin loves Princess Jasmine," she said, indicating the doll she was playing with.

Jeanie's face broke into that adorable smile again. "Really? Yay! You gonna marry her too? Cause at the end of the movie Aladdin and Jasmine got married and lived happ'ly ever after."

"I sure hope so." Jeanie's smile got even bigger and she scrambled from Izzy's lap to Danny's. "So how old are you, Jeanie?" he asked.

"Six."

"Six! Wow! So you must be what, in high school?"

The little girl giggled. "No, silly! I'm gonna start 1st grade in September and…" And she was off, explaining all the things she'd learned in kindergarten and everything she was going to learn in the 1st grade. After a while she wore herself out talking and settled more comfortably into Danny's lap, quietly playing with her doll.

Izzy was more comfortable talking to Danny now and they chatted about school and other things (Danny explained why boys always seem so stupid: 'We are stupid'). She turned out to be as friendly and sweet as her parents and aunt. _Nice change from the girls her age we meet at work. Like that rich girl who dated that older guy who got shot…Ugh. She made me afraid to procreate but I guess some of them turn out ok…_

Lindsay paused in the doorway and looked at the scene before her. Danny sat there seeming completely comfortably with holding a sleeping Jeanie and talking to Izzy. _I knew he'd be good with kids…_ "Hey there, having fun?"

Matt and Timmy nodded enthusiastically and Danny and Izzy smiled at her. Joe swept into the room behind Lindsay. "Ah, there's my munchkin!" he said, gently picking up Jeanie. "This one should have been in bed a while ago. And you two need to start winding down. Give Danny and Aunt Lindsay their badges back," he added, looking at his sons. When they started to protest, he cut them off: "No buts! You'll see them both in a couple of days at Grandpa and Gramma's house. Maybe they'll let you play with them again. If you'll excuse me," he said to Danny and Lindsay. "I'll be right back." He left, with Izzy herding her brothers after him.

Danny stood up and walked over to Lindsay, who wrapped her arms around his neck. "You seemed to be popular," she said. _Timmy and Matt seemed star-struck and Izzy probably has a little crush now just like Ax… _

"I decided, why settle for the love of just one Monroe? I'm out to get the complete set. I already got your ma and Aunt Flo in my back pocket and I think that Matt and Timmy think I'm a superhero," he told her with a grin.

"Oh really? Well good luck with that. We're not all as likeable and friendly as the ones you've met so far. Uncle Frank is a crabby curmudgeon of a man."

"Just you watch, Montana. Uncle Frank is no match for the Messer Charm." He winked at her. _Who'd of thought that I'd be trying to charm little kids and old guys instead of some random bimbos? But dammit, _ _Montana__'s family is gonna like me if it kills me. _

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Joe finished up putting the three little ones to bed and he, Susie, Izzy, Danny, and Lindsay sat in the living room talking for a bit longer. Danny was having a great time. _Geez__Montana__'s brother has got to be like the nicest guy I've ever met. And Susie's a sweetheart too. I guess that's why their kids are so great…I wonder if Montana's niceness would counter me being an ass if we have kids...I'd love to have mine be like Joe and Susie's... _

When they finally got ready to leave, Joe pulled Danny aside for a minute. "Listen, Danno, I just wanted to thank you. I can't remember the last time I saw Lin-Lin this happy. And I can tell you're completely crazy about her- you must be to leave NYC for the Pike, even if it's just for a visit! So the obligatory threatening talk from the older brother is unnecessary. Which is good. Because I'm never very good at threatening. Despite being such a big feller." He smiled at Danny who smiled back at him. Joe then snuck up on Lindsay who was saying goodnight to Izzy and Susie, slung her over his shoulder, and started spinning around.

"Stop it Joe! I hate when you do this! It's so not fair that you got all the tall genes…" She finally convinced her brother to set her down (after she threatened to vomit on his hardwood floors).

"Goodnight, Lin-Lin. Goodnight, Danno. We'll see you at Holiday, ok?" Joe called as they walked to the car.

" Holiday? Whazzat?" Danny asked. _Sometimes I think this state is speaking a different language. _

"Oh, it's this thing Momma started it last year after I moved to New York. Since I miss Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, when I'm home for the summer we have the whole family over and eat lots of food one night. Joe named it Holiday because that's what it is: a substitute holiday for me. It also means I'm less homesick come November and December because I already had my Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners."

"Wow, that's a really good idea. I knew your ma was a clever lady. So I'll be seeing your entire family? It's gonna be pretty exhausting getting them all to love me." He let out a fake sigh. "But I think I'm up to the task. I somehow convinced you to love me and I consider that a frickin' miracle." He reached over and rested his hand over hers on the gear shift. "And just so you know, you're gonna have something to do this holiday season because you're coming home with me to my ma's for Turkey Day and Christmas, ok? Tony and Jess are already looking forward to you joining us, so you can't say no."

"Like I would! You know what I did last Thanksgiving? I worked. I volunteered to come in so somebody with actual plans could go spend time with their family. It'll be nice to spend time with your family instead." She looked over at him with a big grin.

"C'mon, Montana. It's your family too. Ma loves you and I think Tony and Jess like you more than me." They saw Tony and Jess all the time and went to Danny's mother's house for Sunday dinner at least once a month.

"You're right. They do. Tony told me himself." She laughed as Danny pretended to be outraged. _Wow, it feels really good to know I have this many people who care about me in _ _New York__. It's starting to feel more like home there than here. _She smiled at her boyfriend, knowing he had a lot to do with that change.

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	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Thanks to all my kind reviewers! Nice to know so many people are enjoying this. :) Feel free to keep on tell me what you think.

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Lindsay finished helping her dad with the chores and went to wake Danny up. When she opened the door to the carriage house, though, her heart stopped for a second. Danny had his back to her and was stretching, his arms reaching for the ceiling. He was wearing his pajama pants but no shirt. As always, the sight of his naked, muscular back was enough to make her jaw drop and her tongue loll out like a dog. _I swear that he has got to be the sexiest person ever…he ought to be in a lab somewhere so they can do all these tests on him. I mean, I'm glad he's not obviously but the scientist in me does_ _think he ought to be carefully studied…_She removed her shoes, snuck quietly up behind him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. Without warning he quickly spun around so he was holding her tightly against his chest. _Wow, quick reflexes… _

She looked up at him with her sexiest smile. "So my parents went to Bozeman for the day. They have to do their shopping for the month and for Holiday, and Daddy has to do a few things for his business. Ax is off visiting friends. They all won't be back until this evening. Oh, and I told Momma we'd cook dinner tonight." One of her hands moved from his waist to caress his pecs and abs. "So the question is, what do you want to do all day?"

He gave her a devilish smirk. "Oh, I think I know what I want to do."

"And do you feel like sharing your idea?" she purred to him.

He pulled her tighter and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "How about I spend the day fucking you every way you've always wanted, making all your Montana fantasies come true?" His teeth nipped her earlobe and she groaned.

Lindsay's head was spinning at the mere thought of what Danny was suggesting. "That sounds like an excellent plan." Her eyes told him that she was in complete agreement, but there was a teasing twinkle in them too. "Are you sure you're up for it Danny? There's a lot that I'd like you to do me and a bunch of stuff I want to do to you...It might not be physically possible and I'd hate to be disappointed…"

Danny pouted at her. "That hurts, Montana. Have I ever let you down before? I can do it, but we're gonna have to take breaks periodically if only to eat. Plus your family might get suspicious if you're saddle-sore all of a sudden." He winked at her. "Besides, there's no law that says I have to come every time you do. That'll extend things a bit. And I have no absolutely no problem with focusing entirely on your pleasure, Lindsay." His voice was huskier than usual as he said this and she shivered.

"I don't even know where to begin," she said, already going over the different locations and scenarios she'd dreamt about.

"Well, I know where we can start. We do my idea first and maybe that'll inspire what you want to do next," he said. He bent down and kissed her, then took her hand and led her out of the carriage house.

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He led her into the barn. As soon as they were inside he pulled her to him and started frantically kissing her. Without removing his lips from hers, he guided her through another door within the barn itself.

She stopped to catch her breath and also to look around. "The tack room, Danny? If you're thinking of trying out a riding crop or something on me you should know THAT'S never gonna happen."

He cut her off by kissing her again and pulling her t-shirt over her head. "Nope. But just so you know you shouldn't say never to something like that. You might like it. Maybe we'll give it a go some other time." He winked and pushed her nylon shorts off her hips, then removed his pajama pants. "I have something else in mind, something I noticed the other day when we went on our ride…" He kept moving forward and forcing her to back up until she bumped into something. He quickly removed their underwear before turning her around to see what she'd run into. It was a saddle.

"Seeing that sitting there put all sorts of naughty thoughts into my head, Montana. I mean, it's the right height and everything and look at the way it's curved! Perfect." Before she had a chance to respond, he'd lifted her up and laid her across it on her stomach. He immediately latched onto her neck and started nipping and biting her. "Any objections?" he murmured.

"None whatsoever," she managed to pant.

"Good, good." And he entered her. He was right, it was the perfect height. He didn't have to bend his knees or stand on his tiptoes like he sometimes did when they made love this way. Plus she was completely comfortable-it was much nicer to be bent over a curved and padded saddle than a wooden table.

He held back a little bit. Normally when they did this kind of thing they went at it like animals. But since Danny wanted her to be able to enjoy herself for the rest of the day, too, his thrusts were gentler. It still felt incredible. He groaned. _Damn, it'll probably kill me if we do this all day…but at least I'll die a happy man. _

Several intense and blissful moments passed and they both arrived. Lindsay felt like she was floating. _Boy howdy, he's good at that! How many times today is he gonna make me feel this way? I wonder if you can die from having too many orgasms in too short a period of time. Maybe it'll make my heart stop or something…Kinda an embarrassing way to go but I really don't give a damn at this point. _

"So what's up next, Montana?" he asked as he looked at her with an incredibly suggestive smile on his face. "Scratch that, actually I know what's gonna be 'up'…"

She silenced him by shoving her tongue down his throat. When they finally broke away, it was her turn to give the suggestive smile. "Well, seeing as how we're already in the barn why don't we scamper up that ladder there and have ourselves a little roll in the hay loft?"

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They were breaking for lunch and also to give themselves some time to recover. After spending a solid hour in the barn, they'd moved onto a bunch more stuff including but not limited to the swing on the back porch, the hammock, and Lindsay's old room (Danny didn't even notice the dolls but then his face was between her legs at the time). Obviously they hadn't had sex all morning but had tried their damndest to do so and had gotten fairly creative.

"So Montana, having a good day so far?" _I sure am. Jesus, woman! Gotta love your wild streak… _

"Oh, I think you already know that I'm enjoying myself. I've been pretty vocal about it, haven't I?" She chuckled as she saw Danny flush; he'd mentioned a few times in the past that the noises she makes are more than enough to get him to climax.

"Whaddaya want to do after lunch, my little kinky sex goddess?" _This has got to be the best idea I've ever had…mostly because I'm making a bunch of her fantasies come true and it feels really good to do that for her. Of course, it feels really good in other ways, too… _

"There's the pastures but I've always wanted to be out there under the stars..."

"Well, we'll just have to sneak outside sometime at night then before we go. What do you want to do in the meantime?"

She grinned. "Let's go for another ride. I have a couple of fun spots to check out." _Plus you'll be wearing that hat again! Ohboy ohboy…_

When they reached Lindsay's intended destination and dismounted, Danny was surprised to find that his legs weren't nearly as sore as they were last time. _Of course, I've been usin' these muscles all morning…they should be good and warmed up._ "So Linds, where are we?" he asked. He saw mountains but he also saw steam rising from the ground.

She tied up their horses then took his hands. "There's a hot spring nearby, Danny. Just a little one, so they haven't come put a spa. C'mon, it's over here." She led him around a big boulder.

Danny didn't know what he was expecting when he heard 'hot spring'- he pictured bubbling mud pits like from the dinosaurs he saw as a kid. He didn't expect a small pool of surprisingly clear water. "Well, this seems nice. But I saw this movie once where one of these heated up real quick and cooked the people who were sitting in it right up. I'd really rather not be boiled alive."

Lindsay rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be silly. My father found this place when he was a kid and we all like to come out here from time to time. Daddy installed a little thermometer thingy to monitor the temperature-he doesn't want his family to be boiled alive either." She pulled the thermometer out of the pool and looked at it. "It's safe." She quickly stripped off her clothes and hopped in. Again, it only took a moments thought before Danny joined her.

"Wow! This is nicer than that glacier of a swimming hole you had us in, Montana." _Another advantage to living in the country I guess-natural hot tubs…a guy could get used to this kinda thing. _He felt all the tension leave his muscles. Then he glanced over at Lindsay who was paddling towards him with a familiar glint in her eye and some of the tension returned. He grinned at her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You want a repeat of the other day, babe?" She nodded. "Your wish is my command. Especially when you wish for stuff like this."

They made several stops on the way back after frolicking in the hot spring. Lindsay found a field of shoulder-high wildflowers at one point. Later Danny had a flash of inspiration and pulled her off her horse, lifted her up with her legs around him, and backed her up against a tree. He even had enough foresight to leave most of her clothes on so she didn't get 'bark burn.' When they were finished, he grinned with pride at the dazed but happy look on her face. _Goin' 'back to nature' is more fun then I could have ever imagined…maybe when we get back home I'll have to take her camping upstate or in Jersey sometime- I can think of a lotta fun things to do in a sleeping bag or a tent. _

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After a final romp on their bed in the carriage house, Danny and Lindsay had finally called it a day and were now cooking dinner while waiting for the rest of her family to come home. They'd both showered and Lindsay had covered up their noticeable bite marks and hickeys with concealer. Despite having spent the entire day making love, they had a hard time keeping their hands to themselves as they prepared the meal. Unlike earlier, though, these touches were more about tenderness than passion.

He leaned down and kissed her temple. "You know I really love you right? Like, more than anyone in the world ever loved anybody before in all of human history?"

She smiled up at him. "That's a pretty sweeping statement, Messer. What have you got to back that up?"

"Two things: my gut and my heart. I think they provide a lot of corroboration, Monroe."

_Seriously, the things he says to me! I'm melting all the time…_"Alright, if you say so Danny. And I guess you did get on both an airplane AND a horse for me." She kissed him gently. "And I love you too." They held each other for a minute, completely content. "Now let's get back to work. You telling Momma I could cook means now I have something to prove. I would have been happy if my culinary skills had remained our little secret."

"Well, excuse me for wanting to give your ma the night off, Montana! Hey, watch what you're doin' to those carrots. You're supposed ta be choppin' 'em, not massacrin' 'em."

"Watch it Danny or I'll leave the carrots alone and come after YOU."

"Lies. You just told me you loved me. You wouldn't hurt cute lil' ol' me. Now get back to work."

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"Wow, Lindsay, this is good! Danny, I guess you were right." Gail's eyes were wide with surprise as she tried the stew her daughter had made.

"So what did you two do all day?" Hank asked.

Lindsay managed to not blush but wasn't able to respond. Luckily, Danny jumped in and answered for them. " Montana here made me go for another horse ride. And then we walked around the farm and in the woods for a bit. _Technically all true. _This is a very pretty spot you've got. How long have you folks lived here?"

"Well, actually it was my father's farm…" Hank was off rolling and how Danny and Lindsay had spent the day was forgotten. Besides, Danny found himself interested in the Monroe Family History.

"So what do you young 'uns have planned for tonight?" Gail asked as she started to clear the table.

"It's Wing Night down at the bar and I thought we'd go. See some of the gang." Lindsay turned to Danny to explain. "The wings they have at Stanley's Bar are amazing and now respecting Pike High alum would dare miss out if they're in town. Hey Ax, you wanna come with and drive? It's not like you can drink anyway."

Her sister smiled at her. "Sure! More quality time with the sis and her hottie." She gave Danny another playful wink. "Just think, Danny! You get to hang out with me! You've been deprived so far this visit and it really isn't fair to you. I'm a joy to be around. You'll see."

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Danny didn't know if he'd call Ashley a 'joy' to be around but she was entertaining. She really wasn't the same as her older sister- the word that kept coming to Danny's mind to describe her was 'bubbly.' She giggled endlessly as she asked Danny a lot of questions.

"Can you talk about some of the crazy people you arrest and stuff? I'm taking Abnormal Psychology in the fall and it'd be super cool to have some stories about psychos and perverts to show off to my class with!" Danny gave a little sigh but agreed to give her what she wanted tomorrow.

"Thanks so much, Danny!" she giggled at him. "Linds will never tell me any of this stuff because she thinks I'm still a baby or something. Ooooh I love this song!" And she ran off to dance. He chuckled. _Yeah, I guess Montana got the better looks and the better brains. At least she's nice…_He decided not liking Ashley would be like not liking puppies.

True to her word, several of Lindsay's old friends were there that night and were of course excited to see her. They were also very welcoming of Danny- there was an occasional teasing remark about his accent but he didn't feel like such an outsider as when he'd toured the Pike yesterday. The group of them sat around talking about the good old days in high school- Danny was thrilled to hear about some of the exploits Lindsay had gotten into when she was a crazy teenager. _Montana drove a stolen tractor down Main Street? Never in a million years would I have pictured her as a troublemaker…of course I had no idea you could hotwire a tractor either. _

He found it was very easy to talk to Lindsay's friends. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but her gang had consisted of all the quirky fun people in her class. They were a nice mix of brainiacs, jocks, and arty people with the uniting factor of a good sense of humor. Of course, they all wanted to hear about New York and how Lindsay was doing so he had plenty of conversation material. Her friends were glad to hear how well she was thriving in the big city and he was quick to reassure them that she was doing great. _Hell, I could brag about Montana for weeks on end…and these people seem to want me to do it! Hot damn._

They were all busy laughing at Danny's shocked reaction to finding how much drinks cost at the bar they were in ("$1-$2? Seriously? When I take Montana out in the city I end up having to pay $10 for her frickin' Cosmos! I guess living in the sticks has its advantages!") when Lindsay glanced around the bar and quietly groaned.

He saw her face fall. "What's wrong, babe? See somebody you don't wanna see?" he asked quietly.

"You got it in one, Messer. Always were a bright boy." She subtly nodded her head towards a group of women sitting at a table on the other side of the bar. He casually glanced over there and used his keen observational skills to examine them without seeming like he was staring. There were three women about Lindsay's age. Two of them were glaring at his girlfriend but the third was leering at him, a disturbing predatory expression on her face. They were all wearing too much make-up and their clothes were way too tight. In fact, they looked exactly like the kind of girl Danny spent most of his time with in his twenties-something he was incredibly ashamed of these days. "Who are they? They sure seem to disapprove of you, babe. Do they think you're a bad Montana girl for not staying home on the farm and having 10 kids?"

She laughed. "No, that's the group over there," and she nodded her head towards another table of women who were also glaring at her. "These are the girls who hate me because I moved to New York and didn't end up a miserable failure." His quizzical look indicated she needed to explain further. "See, we were all on the cheerleading squad in high school but we weren't really friends. I did cheerleading because I had school spirit and took all those years of dance and knew how to do a roundoff; they did cheerleading because they knew they looked good in the short skirts and liked being stared at. Anyway, right after graduation Becky-the brunette- moved to New York convinced she was Broadway's next big thing despite the fact that she can't particularly carry a tune. Having the lead in the Pike High production of 'Grease' doesn't really prepare you for the big time. She was home in less than a year, she works for the Montana Department of Transportation now- I think she cleans up roadkill. So she's not happy. And Carrie-short blond hair and Jenny-long blond hair- both moved to LA to be two more model-slash-actresses but couldn't get work. Carrie came home just a couple of months later. Jenny lasted two years but finally came back having nothing to show for her time in Hollywood except a really bad boob job. Carrie tricked some poor guy into marrying her by pretending to be pregnant and then having a 'tragic' miscarriage. Jenny doesn't have a job and lives off her parents still. She's looking for a meal-ticket like Carrie, which is probably why she's ogling you so much." She rolled her eyes. "So they really don't like me because I had a job before I even got to the city and have done pretty well there. And I think the fact that I brought a hot city boy home with me is salt in the wound for them." She gave a little smile as he smirked. "I shouldn't let the fact that they're pathetic get to me, but it kinda does. They made my life hell in high school- nasty girls with sharp tongues. I just know they're going to come over here and say something cruel."

"Well, don't you worry about anything Montana. They're just jealous of you and they should be! You not only are an amazing woman but you've got a great life these days- and a sexy boyfriend." He winked at her. "If I were you I'd be hopin' that they come over and talk to you so you can gloat some. You don't have to be such a sweetheart all the time- if you want to engage in a little vindictive snippiness tonight I won't think less of you. Cause I sure would be doing the exact same thing if I were in your shoes. Or you could just not think about them at all. It's not worth the mental energy to worry about 'em." He kissed her softly.

She smiled at him. "Thanks Danny, you always know what to say."

He chuckled. "Now we both know that's not true 'cause I say stupid stuff all the time but I'm gonna just accept your compliment nicely." And he kissed her again.

Later that night when Lindsay was coming back from the restroom Becky grabbed her arm and said something to her with a cruel little smirk on her face. Danny really wished he was closer and could hear Lindsay's response because Becky turned bright red with anger but walked away in a huff without saying anything after that. _I guess she did go for a little vindictiveness. Atta girl, Montana_He made a note to ask her what she said later. _Must have been something really good to get a girl like her to just shut up and walk away… _

And just as he was expecting, as soon as he stepped away from Lindsay for a second to get another drink, Jenny slinked up to him at the bar. "Hey there, stud. What's a hip guy like you doing out here in Bumblefuck Montana?"

He inwardly rolled his eyes but decided to see what she was going to say. "I'm here with my girlfriend to meet her family, maybe you know her? Lindsay Monroe?"

Jenny's eyebrows shot up but she let out a scoffing noise. "Yeah right. You're probably some coworker she brought home to pretend to be her boyfriend so her family doesn't think she's a total loser. She hasn't been able to get a guy since that old boyfriend of hers got killed- and he's probably better off dead than stuck married to her. Besides, how could a mousy girl like her satisfy a man like you? She was always such a little prude- you ought to be with a real woman who can treat you right." She licked her lips in what she thought was a seductive manner but to Danny it was slobbering and gross.

_Wow. This bitch managed to insult my Montana how many times in less than two minutes? BIG mistake. _"Wait just a minute: I'm really her boyfriend, I'm really in love with her. Because she is a real woman and exactly what a man like me looks for- smart, sexy, funny, sweet, beautiful…basically everything you're not. And she does satisfy me in ways that you never could. For starters, I like my breasts real." He leaned in close to deliver his parting shot. "Plus, I like my women to have an IQ higher than their age and to actually have a soul." He grabbed his drink and walked away.

"What did you say to her?" Lindsay exclaimed as soon as he reached the table. "I've never seen a person turn that purple before and she's just standing there gaping like a fish!"

He smiled at her. "I'll tell you when we get home-but only if you tell me what you said to Becky." And he wrapped his arm around her with a massive grin as he watched Jenny stomp back to her table.

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Later, when they were lying in bed getting ready to fall asleep Danny replayed his conversation with Jenny for Lindsay. She gasped and slapped his arm. "Danny! Those were terrible things to say!"

"Hey! She said terrible things about you first!"

"That doesn't make it right."

"Sure it does. Especially since everything I said was true and everything she said were nasty lies. Plus you gotta admit the look on her face was priceless. Now what did you say to that girl?"

She blushed. "Well, Becky always made fun of me for wanting to go to college. And tonight she said something like 'You just think you're so much better than anyone don't you Monroe?' So I told her that if she had spent less time in high school spreading her legs for anyone who asked and more time studying or practicing her music, maybe she wouldn't have ended up a failure and a miserable, bitter excuse for a human."

Danny whistled in appreciation. "That's my girl! A real tough New Yorker now! Just don't you decide to go all nasty on me now, you here? If you start sayin' stuff like that to me when we fight, I'll just end up in tears and that won't be pretty." _Everyday I learn something new about this woman…tonight I learn that if you poke her with a stick she goes right for the jugular and that's REALLY hot._ _Plus she can do a roundoff! Woo boy._

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	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Probably no updates for a bit- going out of town. Sorry! Anyway, enjoy:

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The next morning, Danny was sitting in the kitchen with Lindsay and her mother. He wasn't quite awake yet so most of the conversation happened over his head. Lindsay had spent most of breakfast on the phone, Danny had spent most of breakfast staring at his coffee. _I am so frickin' exhausted…There are downsides to that much sex. Leaves you REALLY worn out. Of course, stayin' out late drinking didn't help matters…_He let out a massive yawn.

"Danny? Danny Messer are you listening to me?" Lindsay asked with a smile.

He looked up from his coffee with a start. "What? What were you saying? Sorry babe, I'm kinda a zombie this morning."

"I noticed. I was just asking you what you wanted to do today. You have options. Today is Girlfriend Day- lunch and shopping and girltalk in Bozeman with a bunch of my oldest friends. You're more than welcome to come with." She chuckled at the horrified look on Danny's face. "What? You don't want to enter the inner sanctum of womanhood?"

He shook his head vigorously. "Hell no! If it's all the same to you hon, please leave me out of your estrogen-fest. If I felt like an outsider when you took me around the Pike, I'll REALLY feel like one if I tag along. What's my other option?"

Gail chimed in at this point. "You can spend the day helping me cook for tomorrow. Plus I haven't had a chance to show you Lindsay's embarrassing photos yet and tell you stories about when she was a little girl."

Danny's face lit up. "I'll go with what's behind Door #2 please, Montana."

Lindsay's mouth dropped when she heard her mother's suggestion-she hadn't known she had something planned besides cooking. "Momma! You can't show him the photo albums! You'll embarrass me!"

"Wait just a minute, Montana. Fair is fair. Ma showed you all those ridiculous pictures of me. If I recall, you even took a coupla doubles home!"

She grinned as she thought of the picture she had of 6 year-old Danny dressed up like Superman that she had on her refrigerator. "Well, I guess that's true. Anyway, I figured you'd want to stay here. Shelby and Megan were with us last night but Kirstin, Rachel, and Marie want to meet you so they're going to stop in to say hello when they pick me up. Oh and this way you have plenty of time to tell Ax stories." He groaned. "Oh, there's no getting out of it now buster. She's really excited about it. I'm sure she'll have you cornered for a good hour or two."

"Lucky me," he muttered, causing Gail and Lindsay to chuckle.

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Danny was surrounded by women and they all seemed to be judging him- Lindsay's friends had come to pick her up for their day of chick stuff and he felt like a dog at one of those shows Montana liked to watch on Animal Planet. After they visually sized him up, one of the women he hadn't met yet spoke up: "So you're Lin's Detective Studmuffin! That's how Shelby described you to us and it's your official title now. Hope you don't mind. I'm Rachel, by the way. It's nice to meet you, considering the fact that we're probably going to spend most of the day talking about you." She smiled as Danny became noticeably paler and squirmed. "Oh, don't worry. It'll probably all be good stuff, but that depends on what Lin decides to share!" They looked him over again then swept out as quickly as they'd come, bearing Lindsay with them.

Danny let out an enormous sigh of relief when the left. _Why didn't she warn me her friends were so intimidatin'? Shelby and Megan didn't seem that way last night- maybe this is what happens when it's a pack of females or something…_ He shook his head then padded into the kitchen to start cooking. _At least Gail isn't scary… _

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Lindsay's friends didn't wait till they were in Bozeman to start talking about Danny- as soon as they all got into Kirsten's truck the tongues started wagging.

"Well done there, Lin. DAMN!" exclaimed Rachel.

"Yeah, Lin. Since when is that your type? You always were drawn to boy-next-door, wholesome sorts in high school, not the hot-as-hell, bad-boy, 'I'm too sexy for my shirt' types…" Shelby added.

"I'll say he's too sexy for that shirt! And did you check out the way he filled those jeans? Mmmmm…Seriously, Lin, if we weren't like sisters I'd have to take him away from you." Marie joked. Teasing Lindsay was always a favorite activity among her group of friends because they'd decided out of all of them, she blushed the prettiest. Plus, it was insanely easy to make her turn pink (as Danny had happily discovered).

"Like you could," Lindsay managed to respond. Actually, her retort made her blush more.

"Oooh, you hear that girls? We've got a feisty New Yorker on our hands now! Our little Lin has apparently got Detective Studmuffin eating out of her hands," Marie continued.

"Yeah, maybe she can give us pointers," Kirsten joked. Megan and Rachel were married but the rest were without boyfriends at the time being- although Marie joked that she had plenty of 'insignificant others' taking up her time.

"Seriously though Lin, you seem CRAZY happy. That's so fucking great!" Rachel said with a big smile on her face. The six of them had all been friends since elementary school, but Rachel had also gone to the college that Lindsay had transferred to after Tom's death and they were especially close.

"Are you kidding me? Do you think any woman dating Detective Studmuffin WOULDN'T be crazy happy? I'm happy just to look at the guy and Lin here has got that prize specimen of man in love with her." Shelby gave her friend a fake glare full of jealousy.

Lindsay just smiled happily, thinking about how last August no one would have ever been jealous of her love life- she'd envied her friends for the normalcy of their various relationships and now she had a normal, happy relationship herself. _What a difference a year makes! _

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As a mother of three and grandmother of four, Gail knew when the time was right to broach serious topics of conversation and for most of the morning, the time wasn't right. Danny was clearly tired for some time, and then once he started waking up he seemed a little distracted. They weren't silent by any means but they focused on fairly frivolous topics. 

Once Danny's brain emerged from its fog, he found himself thinking about his trip so far. Before he came out here he already knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Lindsay but this visit made his visions much more concrete- he wanted to be a part of this terrific family and come back here each year with her, he wanted to have what Joe and Susie had (well, maybe not as many kids), and he certainly wanted to have more days like yesterday with Lindsay. His thoughts were filled of fond wishes about the future as he mashed potatoes and made pie crusts.

After a while they took a break a coffee break. Gail looked at the young man with a smile. "So Danny, you still want to see our photos of Lindsay? I feel I must warn you- Hank was definitely one of those shutterbug fathers. So there's plenty of pictures." Danny just grinned.

They spent a good chunk of time flipping through pages in the family scrapbooks. He chuckled at the sight of 5-year old Lindsay dressed like a mouse for the Nutcracker, 8-year old Lindsay standing in front of a small pony at her first horse show, and other milestones. _Of course she was a cute little kid- OBVIOUSLY not the same kinda cute she is now but completely adorable. _He complained to Gail that Lindsay never went though the awkward stage that most children do- after all, Lindsay had seen images of him at the age of 12 in his acne and weight-problem glory. _Not that I'm surprised- I can't see Lindsay as ever being anything but perfect. _He listened happily as Gail told him stories about Lindsay growing up- while he loved hearing about little Lindsay raising hell he couldn't help but smile with pride when he heard she'd won her school's science fair each year beginning in the 3rd grade. He gladly accepted a copy of a photo showing a grinning young Montana holding her newest blue ribbon, standing in front of an entire wall of her past awards. _That's my girl. Now I got one for the fridge… _

It was a little awkward when they got to the high school years in the photo album. Even though he knew it was kinda creepy and wrong, he thought she looked totally hot in her cheerleading uniform. And he had to fight his eyes from bulging out when he saw what exactly counted as a uniform for her fast-pitch softball team- the short-shorts, the knee socks. It was too much. _I wonder if she's got THAT one squirreled away in her attic too. DAMN I'm glad that my school's softball team didn't wear those shorts- I'd have never been able to concentrate at baseball practice otherwise! And then there would have been no college for Danny. _

They finished up and Gail looked at him with a serious expression on her face. "Now Danny, Hank was telling me that you're considering proposing to our little girl?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah hopefully, not anytime soon, I mean it's just…complicated." He still didn't know Gail very well but she was just the kind of person you could open up to. "It's kinda funny- for years I never thought I'd even want to get married and now I do and I don't know if the woman I love A) can handle it and B) even wants it."

She looked at him in surprise. "You don't think Lindsay wants to marry you someday? I think she does."

He shrugged. "Well, the thing is we haven't ever talked about any of that stuff. We just kinda coast along enjoying each day as it comes. I avoid bringing it up 'cause I don't want to scare her, and she never talks about it. So I assume that we've got some kinda tacit understandin' going on but you know what they say about assuming things…I guess I'm just a teensy insecure, that's all." _All that Messer confidence when it came to the ladies- another thing of the past. _   
"I think you'll have to talk about this eventually but I understand why you haven't brought it up. She'll have to address it one day -she can't avoid the issue forever. Until then, listen to her mother: she's flat-out, certifiably bonkers for you and if she doesn't want to marry you one day my name isn't Gail Monroe." She smiled at him and he grinned back in relief. _It's nice that he's so likeable- I'd hate to have a surly son-in-law that I merely tolerated…But this guy? A welcome addition! _

"Thanks Gail, I appreciate it. Big load off my mind. And it seems recently that Lindsay's been doing pretty good with everything. Plus if I'm askin' her to live with me we'll hafta talk then, right?"

"I should think so. Speaking of which, thank you. I'll sleep better knowing my little girl isn't all alone in big bad New York. It really does make me a neurotic mess thinking about it sometimes. But enough about me and my issues- I have something for you." She got up, went to a nearby drawer, and pulled something out. Sitting back down, she handed him a small jewelry box. "Go ahead, open it."

Danny did and found a small gold ring- there was a pearl in the center with two small diamonds flanking it. He looked up at Gail with a quizzical look. "Uh, I don't think this is gonna fit me…"

Gail chuckled. "Ok, I should have said I have something for you to give to Lindsay. That was my engagement ring and my mother's before me. It just so happens that this ring is exactly her size- fortunately, at least one of my children didn't take after their moose of a father. Lindsay has the same petite frame as all the women on my side of the family and little hands. And I want her to have it- she was always taking it out of my jewelry box when she was a little girl. Besides, I don't think Ashley will mind- she could have worn it as a pinkie ring maybe. You might not have noticed but she does have very large hands- it's the Monroe in her."

Danny was floored. For a while now he had wondered how he was going to afford a ring because he wanted to get Lindsay something really special. But it would be impossible to get any more special than what Gail had offered him. "Whoa. This is amazing. She'll love it, I know. And I'm just stunned- we don't really have any heirlooms in my family. Anything my dad ever gave my ma probably 'fell off a truck' so she didn't keep a thing."

"I'm glad that you like it. And I want you to get Lindsay something nice with all the money I'm going to save you, ok?"

"Yes ma'am." _Now I know where _ _Montana__ got that whole 'stern voice' thing from… _

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Lindsay was having a great time- the shopping situation in Bozeman was nothing compared to Manhattan but it did have better prices and the company was priceless. She loved her friends back in New York but it wasn't like being with The Girls (as they called themselves) yet.

As Rachel had predicted, a good part of the day was spent talking about him. Her friends all knew about her baggage and didn't make cracks about weddings and babies- they initially focused on how hot they thought he was and after Lindsay told them a few stories about him (including him waiting for her to be ready for a relationship, their first kiss, the way he'd bought gifts for her before they were together, etc.) they talked about how sweet he was.

"All in all a catch." Marie proclaimed over lunch. "Although Detective Studmuffin must have something wrong with him as he is a guy."

"Well, he can be hotheaded-gets him in trouble at work a lot. And he's really stubborn." Lindsay told them.

"Let's see- feisty and stubborn? Who does that remind me off? Can't quite remember the name-oh you know the girl. Real smart, played softball with her in high school, I think she was a cheerleader…" Megan joked.

Lindsay sniffed haughtily. "I have no idea who you're talking about Megan. I think you're imagining things. Anyway, when Danny was younger he wasn't quite a thug but he wasn't really a 'good' kid. And before he met me he was a bit of a ladies' man."

"Yeah, I can see that. I told you I got a 'bad boy' vibe from him," Shelby said. "The important thing though is you did the impossible and seem to have reformed him. You're not supposed to be able to tame bad boys –it's what makes them bad."

"I think Danny's probably always been a sweetheart but was just immature for a while, like lots of guys. And he's a police officer! So it's not like I tamed this free-roving lion on the savannah- I just drifted into his life at the same time he happened to grow up. Besides, he was hardly in the same class as Chuck." Chuck was the spectacularly sleazy guy Kirsten had recently rid herself of- a lying, cheating sack of shit. About a month ago he had told her she needed to lose 20 pounds- she realized she needed to lose 175 lbs and kicked him out.

Kirsten snorted. "No one will ever tame Chuck but he does belong in a cage."

"I still say you should have branded his forehead with 'Asshole' as a warning to those who come after you. It would have been a public service." Rachel said.

"I still say we should kick his ass!" Megan added. And the topic drifted away from Lindsay for a while as she caught up with her friends.

"I miss you girls so much!" she said 2 hours later, after laughing hysterically over Shelby's tales of dating fiascos and Rachel's boss from hell. "You need to come visit me. I'll show you all the sites- I've got my own personal native to give you a tour."

Megan laughed. "I'd love to Lin but can you imagine trying to arrange our vacation times so they overlap? It's asking too much just to see a bunch of buildings."

"And me! You'll see me! And there's lots of really great things about the city…there's the theater and the shopping and museums and the bars…" She knew Megan was just pushing her buttons but she still had to jump to defend her city. _Wow, I really am__a New Yorker now. _

Lindsay's eyes lit up. "Wait! I know what'll make it worth your while to visit." She started rummaging through her giant purse. "I know I put them in here before you all picked me up this morning…ah! Here we go." She emerged from the depths of her handbag triumphantly clutching an envelope. "I have pictures of my co-workers." She passed them around the table.

Kirsten let out a whistle as she held up a picture of Danny, Flack, Sheldon, and Mac that she'd taken one night when they were all out. "Geez, Lin! Is there a rule at the Crime Lab to only hire really, really ridiculously good-looking people?"

"Nope. They aren't all good-looking, my team must be a statistical anomaly- all cute guys. The CSIs on the night shift…well, homely is probably the nicest way to put it. And in other precincts they aren't anything special."

Kirsten was still flipping through the pictures and found one of Lindsay and Stella. "Is this the other woman you work with? Shit, Lin! Your whole team is gorgeous? That's just impossible…Seriously, it shouldn't be."

Lindsay blushed because Kirsten was including her in that statement. _C'mon, I'm not in the same class as Stella. _"I know, I know- it's weird. ANYWAY- these two are single," she said, pointing to Flack and Sheldon. "This one," she tapped Hawkes' face "is a honest-to-goodness genius and ridiculously nice. The other one," she tapped Flack's face, "is a giant little boy. Great sense of humor, great eyes- not so good if you're looking for someone to marry but if you want a little city fling" she looked pointedly at Marie who adopted an innocent 'who, me?' look, "he's your guy."

Her friends passed the pictures around the table as Lindsay told stories about her coworkers.

"Ok, ok. You've convinced us, Marie and I are in." Shelby said. "Well, maybe the idea of Flack convinced Marie…" she jokingly elbowed her friend in the ribs.

"Hey! Can you blame me? Listen Lin, you tell your boss that if you folks ever need a new microscope or something and the city doesn't want to pay for it, you could make a pretty penny with a 'Men of the Crime Lab' calendar." Marie said.

They all laughed as Lindsay's face turned red at the very thought. _I don't even want to THINK about suggesting something like that to Mac! _

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	22. Chapter 22

Danny's jaw dropped. "How many people are coming over tonight? Just how big is your family, Montana?" _Shit shit shit shit… _

Lindsay smiled at Danny's obvious nerves. "Well, it's seven with Joe's family alone! Aunt Flo's coming, and so is Momma's brother Frank. And so's Daddy's sister Ginny, her husband and my three cousins. That's fourteen. Plus my great-aunt Mary and my Granny, who you don't have to worry about- she's very old, very sweet, and very deaf. Just smile at her. I'm not sure if my dad's two brothers Rick and Harry are coming-they probably are. So that's eighteen and with Momma, Daddy, and Ax the grand total will be twenty-one Monroes and Fishers- that's Momma's side." She grinned at him. "What's the matter cowboy? Not so confident anymore? Do you doubt the Messer Charm all of a sudden?" She chuckled then wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't worry- everything will be fine. I'll make sure of it, ok?"

Danny tried to give her a small smile in return but his stomach was doing flip-flops. _Dammit, what the HELL have I gotten myself into?!? This isn't a family gathering, it's a frickin' posse! _

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Joe was the first to arrive and Danny and Lindsay were immediately attacked by a miniature horde. Timmy and Matt were both talking excitedly at the same time and neither he nor Lindsay understood a single word out of their little mouths. Whatever they were so thrilled about was destined to remain a mystery because they promptly ran into the kitchen to talk to 'Gramma' about it. As soon as her brothers were out of the way, Jeanie ran up, beamed at them, and gave them each a hug around the knees. She then went looking for Grandpa and a piggyback ride. Izzy and Ax had sequestered themselves in a corner and were giggling madly- the aunt and niece were very close due to the small age difference and Izzy loved hearing about what life at college was like.

Everyone else arrived at more or less the same time and Danny was completely overwhelmed as Lindsay ran around madly giving hugs. _Who am I supposed to talk to first?!? _He looked around frantically until Lindsay caught sight of him. She took his arm and walked over to her Aunt Ginny.

"Danny, this is my Aunt Ginny, my Uncle Ted, and my cousins Bobby, Joe, and Leslie. Ginny, Ted, and Joe are some of the biggest sports fans you'll ever meet." She turned to her aunt. "Danny played Division I baseball in college." Her aunt and uncle's eyes lit up and they started questioning him about his collegiate career. She grinned as Danny started happily spouting about one of his great loves- baseball- and then turned to Bobby and Leslie. "You know your family and I know Danny-they aren't going to shut up for a good long while now. How've you been? Are you still seeing that guy, Les? And Bobby, how's school going?" They moved over to the sofas and she chatted happily with her two younger cousins, looking over at her boyfriend every now and then to see how he was doing. Danny was in the ball zone- she could tell from his gestures and the occasionally shouted word that he was currently discussing how Japanese import players never live up to their hype and it seemed like her family was agreeing with him on that. After a while, Uncle Rick (another sports junkie) drifted over and joined the conversation. Half an hour later, Danny was loudly stating his case for the Yankees as the best sports team in world history and she suspected from his, 'Are you KIDDING me?!' expression that her family wouldn't agree with him on that point. They all seemed to be enjoying their debate but she had to laugh when she thought about how thick Danny's accent got when he A) argued and B) talked about the Yankees. _I bet I'd__have a hard time understanding him right now… _

Finally, dinner was served and the sports fans had to wrap it up. Danny and Lindsay were seated at one end of the table near Granny, Great-Aunt Mary, Aunt Flo, Uncle Frank and Uncle Harry. The last two had always reminded her of those two grumpy old Muppets who used to sit in the balcony and heckle everybody- despite not being brothers, they were united by their sour natures. She could tell from the way they were eyeing Danny (who was politely talking to Aunt Mary and Flo and smiling nicely at Granny) that they were going to start something with him. She sighed. _Well, shit. _

They'd only been eating for ten minutes when Frank interrupted Danny, who was apparently talking about what he'd done during his visit. "There's an 'L' in that word, you know." Harry snickered.

Danny looked at him, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Excuse me? What word?"

"The word you just said," Frank explained.

"Which one? I talk fast and I just said lotsa words." Danny tried to smile but something in the old man's tone was making him wary.

"There's an 'L' in that word too," Harry added. When Danny still looked puzzled, he clarified things. "Son, 'walk' and 'talk' both contain the letter 'L.'"

Now Danny was completely lost. "Yeah, I know …" _What, do these guys thing I can't spell or somethin'? _

"Then why don't you say them?" Frank asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, you leave the 'L' out of both walk and talk."

Danny frowned. "No I don't- I'm sayin' 'em right. Aren't I?" he asked, turning to Flo, who just held her hands up indicating she was staying out of the conversation.

"You say 'walk' like it's that pot you cook Chinese food in," Harry explained. "It's not 'wawk', it's 'waLk.' You sound like an ignorant thug. Maybe you are. Just who did our niece bring home with her?"

Danny looked really confused now (not to mention grumpy) and was starting to turn a little red. At this point, everyone was staring at the three of them. Lindsay's family generally dealt with the two curmudgeons by ignoring them, but that was not something Danny could even consider.

"Listen, I don't understand what you're sayin' man. I've always said it that way, isn't the 'L' supposed ta be silent or somethin'?" _Buddy, are you gonna challenge the entire Northeast on this?!? _

"No, we don't understand what you're saying young man!" Frank said snippily. "And we haven't even started on your inability to correctly pronounce worse ending in 'ing.' What kind of detective doesn't speak proper English? I guess they have lax standards in New York."

Danny was pissed and trying hard not to show it; unfortunately, his bright red ears were giving him away. "Well, that's not true. You obviously understand me enough to identify the word you think I'm sayin' so wrong." He tried to have a joking tone-he realized they were his girlfriend's family and as tempted as he was to throw food at them and call them pricks he tried to restrain himself. "You didn't assume I was talkin' about stir-fry, you knew I was using the verb that describes the most common form of locomotion. So you clearly understand me. You just think I'm sayin' it wrong."

"You are!" Harry exclaimed.

"According to who? You two? The state of Montana?" At this point his arms were flying as he started gesturing like a madman. "Buddy, language isn't like that. It's all kinda relative. Are all Americans talking wrong cause we don't sound like the frickin' Queen? It's called an accent and it's a valid variation. You talk like you're from the Midwest because you are. I talk like I'm from the New York Metropolitan Area because I am. Most of us there talk this way. Are 20 million people wrong?!"

Frank and Harry just stared at him.

"Why are you two bustin' my chops, anyway?" he continued. "I'm hardly the first guy you've ever heard that talks this way- do you watch TV? Do you go to the movies? If I was from some place like Papua New Guinea and you had genuinely never heard somebody like me before, I could understand you hassling me- though it would still be rude. But if you've ever seen any show or movie ever featuring New Yorkers…" he chuckled, thinking about some of the laughably thick accents he'd heard in Hollywood portrayals of his city. "…it's nothing new. I'm nothing new. I might be the first person who you, yourself, have personally encountered who has this accent, but I'm hardly a frickin' Martian or something. C'mon now." He grinned at them as his anger had been swept away by the absurdity of the entire interaction. _Wow, these two really ARE grumps. Of all the things to dislike about me…_Frank and Harry continued to stare at him and Danny was now aware of the fact that the rest of the Monroe-Fisher clan was staring at him two. _Huh, I guess I ranted a little too loudly…whoops. Shit, way to show everybody my true colors. _He looked at Lindsay and gave her a tiny shrug. _What was I supposed to do? Just take their shit? Not gonna happen. _He just about swallowed his tongue when Frank and Harry burst into hysterical laughter.

"Oh, I like you, son," Frank said as he wiped tears of laughter from his face. "You're a live wire."

"Yeah," Harry added. "It's been a long time since somebody dished it back out to us."

Danny stared back at them for a moment before beginning to laugh as well. "See, this is what happens when you pick on hot-headed New Yorkers. Not ta mention Italians. You're lucky, ya know. If you'd said the stuff you said to me when I was 18, I'd a prolly decked you both." They all laughed some more, and the rest of the table quickly joined in, relieved that a brawl hadn't broken out at Holiday (and also pleased that someone had finally told the Nasty Duo off).

Some normalcy was restored to the table and after a while, all Danny's nerves were gone. He was simply having a good time- he hadn't been to a family event this size since high school as holidays were just him, Ma, and Tony for so many years (until Tony got married- now they had a whopping four people). He hadn't really realized what he was missing because he hadn't fully appreciated it when he was younger- that, and holidays were always weird growing up (all his uncles had big-ass guns under their suit jackets, someone was always in jail, Aunt Gina always had to be a wiseass and send plates of food out to the people sitting in the van doing surveillance on the house). _This is really nice, actually. _ _Montana__'s family is kinda crazy but it's a fun kinda crazy. _He grinned and nodded at Granny some more.

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The schmoozing continued after dinner. He talked some more to the various kinfolk he hadn't gotten to know very well yet but it was obvious that his biggest success of the night was with Frank and Harry. They'd cornered him after dessert and held a series of lively arguments on broad range of topics, including the last election, the death penalty, and whether the new James Bond was any good and if Batman is technically a superhero. They didn't agree on a single thing but the two old men were tickled to insult someone willing to insult them back- usually, their own family was too polite to do such a thing.

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Lindsay had a great time, of course. She loved New York but she still missed her family- especially since she was used to such a large and lively crowd. Uncle Freddy in Tarrytown just wasn't enough for her- he'd always been the calm Monroe. And while her team was her second family these days, nothing can replace eating pie while listening to Frank bicker with Ginny over everything and hearing Flo subject Izzy to the same three stories about her cats. She definitely had tears in her eyes as she hugged everyone goodbye, knowing it would be another year before she saw them all again. _They're all quirky lunatics but they're my lunatics. Damn, I miss them! _

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While Lindsay was giving an extended farewell to her big brother, Danny was helping Gail clean up.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a robot or an alien," she said to him conversationally.

He paused, held the dish he was drying in mid-air, and lifted his eyebrows at her. "Excuse me? Gail? How many beers did you have after dinner?" _Did _ _Montana__'s ma completely snap or something? Maybe I should have helped her more tonight… _

She laughed. "No, I'm fine. It's just that it's so weird how everyone liked you."

He pouted at her. "What? I'm not likable? Why's it so weird that they like me?"

"Of course you're likeable, you silly boy. It's just very rare that this entire family agree on anything. Honestly, the only thing most of us have in common is our affection for one another. But come ON: Frank and Harry liked you! They don't really like each other all that much! You made Harry smile. I've never seen him smile in all the years I've been married to Hank. He didn't even smile at our wedding. And my brother can be a horrible, antisocial jackass. And he liked you!" She shook her head in amazement. "Wait, are you sure you're not an alien or a robot? I'd still like you if you were; I just want to know the truth…"

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That night he held a sobbing Lindsay in his arms before they went to sleep.

"Oh Danny, I just miss them so much when I'm in New York. I want to go home, but I don't want to leave everybody here. It's so hard being so far away."

Danny smoothed her hair and crooned in her ear for a while. "It'll be ok Montana- just think about all your friends in the city who miss you. Stella's been without her shopping buddy for a week- she must be going mad. And yeah, you'll miss your family but you'll talk to them soon, right?" _She called _ _New York__ home! I guess I don't need to worry about her moving back here, then… _

She shook her head. "No, I probably won't. I always mean to call and email everyone more often; it's just with work it never seems to happen. Even with Momma's weekly phone calls I never have much time to talk. Then I feel homesick and guilty."

"Aw, don't worry about that. They know what you do and that its important work- I'm sure they understand. And we can fix things so that you do call and email. We can leave little memos all over the office and your apartment to remind you. And I volunteer to nag you a lot. I finally get to harp on YOU about doing something for a change- it'll be fun." He grinned at her, thinking of all the times she'd pestered him about different errands he had to run and appointments he had to keep. "Maybe we can just keep track of each other's to-do lists and calendars- you're better at remembering what I have to do, I bet I'd be better at remembering what you have to do. I think about you all the time anyway, I might as well be thinking about the stuff you need to get done." He kissed her lightly. "So no more beating yourself up over not keeping in touch. Besides, I've made friends with all your family now- I'm gonna want to talk to them myself. So I'll really be nagging you about calling home, Montana. Ashley fully intends on interrogating me about 'crazy people' some more and I bet Frank and Harry are gonna want to pick fights."

She smiled through her tears. _I was so ridiculously lonely in _ _New York__ when I first got there- which is crazy considering how many people are there! I just missed my family soooooooo much. And while I still miss them, at least now I have an excellent support system in place. _She thought of her friends and her team from the crime lab._ They're such great people. And with Danny around I'm never lonely anymore. _She sighed happily, curled closer to the man she loved, and drifted off to sleep.

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A/N: Not my strongest chapter, but i've been working on it for a while and this seems to be as good as its gonna get for now. perhaps someday i'll return and edit the hell out of it. until then, i hope it suffices.


	23. Chapter 23

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Danny and Hank stood by as Gail just held her middle daughter in her arms for a solid five minutes- it was a goodbye hug, after all. While she was proud of what her daughter did, she also wasn't deluding herself about the dangerous nature of her little girl's job and she recognized that this might be the last time she'd get to hug her baby. She did this every time Lindsay left to go back to work- even when she was living in Bozeman. It had rubbed off on her husband and now he more or less did the same thing. Gail kissed her daughter's hair. _Just in case, just in case… _When she finally let go, she proceeded to startle the hell out of Danny by embracing him in a similar manner. _He's almost family too. Hopefully someday... _

Finally, they had to board the plane. Gail was crying and Hank even had the glimmer of tears in his eyes. Lindsay's mother let out a resigned little sigh- it was time to let go again. "It was very nice to meet you Danny and it's been wonderful getting to know you. We'll see you next summer, ok?" He nodded. "We love you very much Little Lindsay. You take care of yourself now. Try and get some more sleep. Danny, make sure of this for us ok?" He nodded again. "Such a nice boy. Ok Lindsay- just one more quick hug for your Momma." They embraced again, briefly this time.

Hank gave his daughter a quick hug as well. "It was nice seeing you, Lil' Bit. You stay safe. Watch out for all those loonies back in the Big Apple." He clapped Danny on the shoulder. "So long there, sport. Hope to see you again next August. Now how's about you two get on the damn plane before you miss it!" Danny and Lindsay scurried away and her parents watched them leave. Even though she already missed her little girl, Gail was happy that she now knew the man who Lindsay was spending so much time with- she wasn't lying when she said she'd worry less now. _Well, I hope that everything works out between them. I'll do what I can with Lindsay. _She couldn't help but smile as she thought of a fringe benefit of getting Lindsay to move past her commitment issues and settle down with Danny: _More grandbabies! _

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The flight home had been more or less uneventful- Danny's nerves were considerably lessened now that he didn't need to worry about meeting Lindsay's family for the first time when he landed. That's not to say he wasn't clenching her hand tight enough to bruise at both take-off and touch-down, though. The nerves were lessened but they certainly weren't gone.

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It was chaos at the airport- first they had to wait for their bags which had been accidentally sent to Newark instead of JFK airport. Then they had to figure out how to get home.

After several minutes of thinking, Lindsay sighed. "Let's just take two cabs- one to my place, one to yours."

"Don't be silly- that'll cost a fortune. Plus then I can't help you carry your stuff upstairs- remember your elevator is broken? And your suitcases weigh a ton?" _They're even heavier now that you brought more stuff home from _ _Montana__… _

"Oh yeah- well, we share a cab, both go to my place, you carry my stuff up while the cab waits, then you go home to your place."

"That could work…but what were you gonna do for dinner?"

"Order in, I guess."

"See Montana, if I just go back to my place I'll do the same. It'd be cheaper if we just split dinner like usual. Plus I've been sharing a bed with you for a while and I don't think I'll sleep very well if you aren't next to me." He pouted at her and she smiled.

"Me too, Danny….ok, how about this? We both go to my place, bring all our stuff up to my apartment, eat and sleep and you bring your stuff home the next day."

"Sounds good. Wait, no, shit. I have no clean clothes for work tomorrow. Plus that is a lot of stuff to lug up you're the stairs to your 8th floor apartment, missy….how about the cab goes to my place first, I real quick run up with my stuff, grab clothes for tomorrow, and water my plants while you wait, then we both go to your place, I bring your stuff up, we eat, we sleep, we go to work. Any problems with that scenario?"

"None that I can think of."

"Boom. Let's go."

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Two hours later, they were flopped on Lindsay's couch with empty Chinese cartons strew all over the coffee table.

"Wow, I'm beat," Lindsay said as she dropped her head onto Danny's shoulder.

"Yeah, it's been an exhausting week- all that fresh air and sex!" He grinned at her, then cleared his throat. "You know Montana, we could have avoided all that craziness this evening at the airport if we lived together. Now hear me out," he said as she started to open her mouth. "We never spend the night apart. It's silly and expensive to keep two places when we really only need one. Now I'm not saying you need to move in with me- we can make up those little lists you like and compare my place and your place and pick whichever one makes more sense. Or we can get a new place. I just really really want to live with you- we practically do already but I want it to be official and on a lease. I don't want to sleep in a bed alone, I don't want to eat meals by myself, and I want you around all the time." He kissed her. "Ok, you can talk now." _Please please PLEASE don't freak out._

"I was going to say 'OK.'" She smiled and kissed him back. When they finally came up for air, he gave her a ridiculously big grin and fished a piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Here, babe. I wrote down all the different specs about my place so you can start with your list making whenever you're ready. The expenses and dimensions are all here as well as some pros and cons- like my building having a doorman and being close to a park so our morning run is easier. Your place is closer to the lab, though. There's a bunch more stuff down there."

She had to laugh at how well-prepared he was. _Wow, he knows me really well! _"Thanks, Danny. We can compare everything after work tomorrow."

His grin was still growing and was actually reaching a point where it was starting to hurt his face. "I'm so glad you wanna do this, Montana my love." _Hell, I wanted to ask you a week after we started dating. _"By the way, we can keep your stuff- your furniture is nicer and newer than my shit. Only stuff I want is my entertainment system and my weights. My TV is loads bigger than yours and I think it's safe to assume you want me to keep my weights, too." He winked at her and she flushed.

Lindsay really liked to watch Danny lift. He didn't do it everyday and she wasn't always around when he did, but when she was she liked to lurk in the doorway of the spare bedroom he'd turned into a gym and usually pounced on him as soon as he was done with his workout. There was something about a shirtless Danny, muscles rippling and glistening with sweat that drove her completely wild. _C'mon, it'd drive any straight woman wild! I could charge admission and make a killing. _She thought back about three weeks- she was standing there, drooling over him as he did curls, and when he finished his reps and sat down on the bench he turned to her. "You know Montana, we could shave some time off this little routine we have if you just let me bench press you- preferably you with no clothes." He waggled his eyebrows and she laughed. "What? You think I can't do it? You weigh what, 110 lbs? Please. I can bench that much when I have the flu." He cocked his head at her as he thought for a minute, working out the logistics. "Here, come stand here. Brace yourself stiff like a board and cross your legs real tight." He gently placed one hand behind her neck and placed the other between her clenched thighs and held her horizontally over his head. He lowered a giggling Lindsay and lifted her back up five times, then returned her feet to the ground. It was one of the sexiest, most macho things he'd ever done around her. She immediately pulled him off the bench and tugged him towards the mat he had to do sit-ups, frantically kicking off her shoes and pulling off her clothes. He laughed as he lowered his body onto hers, saying "See? This is why I suggested you getting naked first..."

She flashed back to the present and looked at her boyfriend, who was smirking at her. "Yeah, we're keeping them," was all she said.

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The next night, they sat down at his kitchen table and made a series of tables and pro/con lists. He had to smile as he watched her pour over the sheets of paper, her tongue slightly sticking out in concentration. _She's so damn thorough about everything- it's adorable. _They ultimately decided that Danny's place was the better choice despite being more expensive- it was bigger, had better security, and the location was more desirable. They both made plans to talk to their landlords ASAP. Danny was so excited at the thought of really truly living with Lindsay that he swept her up in his arms and carried her to his bedroom-soon to be their bedroom.

His giddiness was clearly evident as they had sex; Lindsay loved when he was playful in bed and she didn't even mind when he gave her a big hickey on her neck in an unconscious desire to 'mark his territory'- which she suspected was not so unconscious. After they finished and were gladly resting in each other's arms, Danny sighed happily. "Ya know, with you I'm sometimes temporarily satisfied but I've never truly got my fill. I always want more of you and that's not gonna change. I just can't make love to you enough- mark my words Montana, I'm gonna be chasing you around our nursing home one day and I'm not gonna be needing any frickin' little blue pills either." He kissed her shoulder.

When she didn't immediately respond, he regretted saying anything. _Ok, not ready to joke about this stuff yet. That's ok. I kinda wish we weren't spooning so I could see her facial expression though…_Lindsay was meanwhile processing what Danny had just said. Though it was a joke, it was the first time he'd explicitly stated he wanted to be with her long term. _Whoa- that's…food for thought. _She rolled over and smiled at him. "I'll never make you chase me when we're old, Danny. What if you fell and broke a hip? Then we couldn't have any fun." He grinned at her and held her close. _Well, maybe jokes are ok. That's a start. _

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About three days after Lindsay agreed to move in with him, Danny didn't need to be at work until 11 and took this opportunity to go talk to Petersen. He knocked on his landlord's door and when the odd little man opened it Danny informed him he was interested in putting someone else on his lease. "Oh, come in Detective Messer! Step back here to my office- it's great that you stopped by because I was going to try and talk to you myself sometime this week."

"Really? Is there some kinda problem or somethin'?"

"No, no, nothing like that, not really. You know how Mrs. Ogden's children moved her into a retirement home?" Danny nodded- she was the kind but completely deaf old lady whom he'd enjoyed having as a neighbor for years: he never needed to worry about playing his TV or music too loud. "Well, I'm going to be renting her place to a young family and I was wondering if you'd mind me putting some sound-proofing tiles in your bedroom, especially if that sweet little girlfriend of yours is moving in with you?"

Danny turned bright red instantly- this was mortifying and Petersen's casual tone was just making it more awkward. _I never thought about how loud we were before! I mean, I really like to make _ _Montana__ moan and I yell a lot and oh GOD…He could at least be embarrassed too! _The older man quickly noticed Danny's change in demeanor and quickly continued. "Oh, don't be embarrassed Detective Messer! It's perfectly natural. It's nice to know you two are so much in love." Danny was squirming now. "Obviously, Mrs. Ogden never complained, poor dear, but her children were there a lot this past month and they mentioned it to me because they figure it was unlikely my next tenant will have a hearing loss. And don't go being all self-conscious about things- you're hardly the first person to need these. I've got these tiles in probably a third of the apartments already- in fact, the man who lives below you had me do all his walls and ceiling 14 years ago when he moved in because he works funny hours and needs it quiet at weird times so he can sleep. So, do you mind?" Danny, who could now empathize with Adam (a.k.a. Lobster Boy), managed to stammer out a yes.

They worked out the details on the change to the lease as well as installing the tiles- Danny embarrassingly admitted he might want to put them up on all the walls that connected the two apartments, not just the bedroom. As he left to get ready for work, he couldn't help but think about what the hell he was going to tell his girlfriend. _If I'm this embarrassed, how is she gonna handle this? Eesh. _He hated to admit it, but this might be the one time in their relationship where he might have to hide the truth from her. _Maybe I can tell her they're putting them in every apartment. It's not lying, it's bending the truth for her best interest…dammit. _

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As soon as he had a chance in the lab he updated her on everything. She didn't buy his story about the soundproofing tiles but she seemed to not want to hear the truth- she suspected why they were going to get these tiles and she preferred to be in denial about it.

"So you really want to use all my furniture?" _Change the subject quickly, Lindsay. Don't think about it. You'll just get a complex. _

"Yeah, why not? I mean, we'll be moving twice as much stuff this way but in the end our place'll be nicer." _Our place- that sounds good. _

"Ok, well do you want to find a storage unit for all your stuff? You don't have room in the basement of your building or anything, right?"

He looked at her with a confused expression on his face. "Why would I need to do that? I was just gonna give my stuff away- its not like I'm ever gonna need it again so it makes no sense to hang onto it."

Lindsay felt a little glow in response to his words- he wasn't even joking this time and sounded like their cohabitation (and therefore their relationship) was permanent to him. She found she liked that he thought that way and filed it away under 'More Food for Thought.'


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Lindsay's Big Bad Secret (vague as it is still) doesn't fit into my universe. So I'm leaving it out. Author's prerogative.  Thanks to everyone for sticking with me as this turns into a rather lengthy tale! I appreciate it muchly and hope you're enjoying it.

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After a few weeks Lindsay had decided that living with Danny was the most wonderful thing in the universe and not just because she no longer had to worry about whether _X_ item was at her place or his. While they had spent the majority of their time together before the move, they could now legitimately revel in domestic bliss. Plus, sharing a space made it easier to do sweet little things for each other.

One day, Lindsay had to stay late to do paperwork on a particularly upsetting case- another young girl from the country who moved to New York City and promptly got killed. When she finally made it through the door grumpy, sad, and tired, Danny immediately took her coat and things. 'Dinner's in the oven,' he told her and quickly fiddled with something on his computer. Strauss began filtering through the speakers as he took her in his arms and led her in a simple waltz around the living room. It was incredibly random but so sweet and fun- just like Danny. She decided not to ask what was going on and instead just enjoying being held in his arms and dancing for a while. The oven timer went off and he led her to the kitchen.

"I didn't know you knew actual dance steps," she said over their meal- he'd made her favorite recipe, too.

"Eh, not really. When I was fifteen, my cousin Josie- who, by the way, was one of two female cousins out of the entire brood- had this formal Sweet 16 thing and my aunts made all us boys learn the waltz. I guess it was deeply engrained into my brain through repeated smacks upside the head. When you called me earlier you sounded a little down and I thought you needed something different to cheer you up- for some reason I thought of this."

"You were right- I feel better. But where on earth did you find this music?"

'I just Googled 'streaming waltzes' and there ya go. I dunno who this is, even. Just that it's in ¾ time." He smiled at her shocked expression. "Whatsa matter Montana? Remember I was a musician for a while? I know a thing or two about rhythm." He winked at her.

"Oh don't I know it," she winked back. "Do you know any other dances?"

"What, like the tango? No, but I bet it'd be lotsa fun to tango with you, Montana. Wait, I know it's lotsa fun- at least the horizontal variety." His eyebrows waggled. "Anyway, I guess I kinda know how to swing dance - like, one move." Her jaw dropped. "Why's that so surprising, woman? My freshman year of college I was in this swing dancing club- great way to meet girls. There was like 6 of us guys and 20 of them and they'd like, fight to dance with us! Stopped going by spring semester though- didn't really need help meeting girls anymore." He grinned at her. "By then, the entire female population had fallen prey to the Messer Charm and was beating down my door." He smirked, but the twinkle in his eye suggested he was exaggerating- at least a little.

She stuck out her tongue at him. "Your ego, Danny. Sheesh." She thought for a minute. "Do you think you could teach me how to swing?"

"Whoa there, Montana! What's this about swinging?!? …Anyways, I told you I could kinda do it…. What the hell, I guess I could show you the basic step or something. You were a dancer, I'm sure you'll get it even if clumsy me shows you. After dinner I'll find a Big Band station online and we'll give it a go." _Anything to make you smile, babe._

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"Ok, watch what I'm doing with my feet- you start with the opposite foot from me I think…Yeah that's it…ok, and we hold hands like so- lean back a little bit and let your hands support your weight….Ready?" As he'd predicted, she rapidly picked it up. And as he told her, he knew one move- how to turn her. Despite his lack of steps, they had a good time and they were both laughing heartily by the time the song was over. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss. "Thanks Danny, that was exactly what I needed!" _Just like you were exactly what I needed._

Later that night, as they sat watching the news, he turned to her. "Montana? Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

He snorted. _If I had a nickel for every time we've had that little exchange…_ "So Miss Lindsay…we're coming up on our six month anniversary and I dunno if it's normal to celebrate that kinda thing 'cause I've never made it to six months before. _Hell, I never made it to 3 months! _So I was thinking it might be kinda cool to give each other a favor that we normally wouldn't ask. Like you making me watch a chick flick marathon. How's that sound? Plus dinner out, of course."

She beamed at him. "That's a great idea, Danny. I already know what I want to ask you. I liked dancing with you a lot- I forgot how good dancing makes me feel. It always made me happy when I was younger. So I'd like to take a swing dance class with you sometime." _I'd have NEVER have asked him that but if he's offering…_

He lifted his eyebrows but nodded his head. "Sure. Whatever you want, babe. You find the place and I'll be there with bells on. I just have one condition- you can't tell anyone, ever. Because none of our friends can keep their mouths shut and even if you tell your family or friends back home I just know that somehow it'll get out and spread like wildfire throughout the city and the next thing I know, I'll be in Interrogation tryin' to intimidate some punk and he'll start humming Brian Setzer at me or something."

She laughed. "I promise. Our little secret. Now what favor would you like?"

"Permission to get swept up in the moment sometime, even if you aren't in the mood when I start with the sweeping. I'll make sure I get you in the mood, of course…"

She laughed again. "Of course you can do that! You don't even need to ask! So pick something else."

He thought for a minute then grinned at her. "A get-outta-jail free card, then. Meaning you gotta forgive me for something, whether you want to or not. I promise I won't use it for anything BIG big." _Might come in useful someday…aw, whom I kidding about the 'might?' It'll definitely come in handy._

She looked at him suspiciously. "Alright, I guess. You're taking dance lessons for me, I suppose I can do this for you. Just as long as it's not for something BIG big like you say- you can't sleep with one of my friends or something and expect this card to save you."

He looked offended. "Like I would ever do something like that! Honestly, Lindsay…"

She cut him off. _Shit, forgot for a second how sensitive he is about his past behavior. _"Shh, I know. I was kidding. I should have said you can't punch Mac in the face and expect this card to save you, because I know that THAT is more probable than the other thing I mentioned." She softly kissed him. "I trust you with my heart. Remember that. And by the way, the six month thing is a big deal for me too. Been a long time since I hit that milestone- I think I was in high school when it happened last. Tom and I were together for only 5 months..."

It was his turn to kiss her softly. "Well, good for us. We'll have to make sure we go someplace real fancy for dinner. I'm talkin' multiple forks kinda fancy."

As always, Danny kept her from sulking or dwelling in the past. _Just one more reason to love him. _She laughed. "Multiple forks? I'm not sure this country girl is up for that again- our first date scared me. That place had entirely too much silverware."

"Don't worry, Montana. No need to be scared- I'll be there to protect you from the utensils."

"My hero!"

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It pained him to admit it, but Danny had a good time at the dance class with Lindsay. He wasn't an awful dancer by any means and some of the stuff he'd learnt when he was younger came back to him- plus they learned some spiffy new moves. He loved dancing with Lindsay- he loved doing anything with her actually but this was an especially nice thing because A) it was kinda fun, B) he got to hold her, and C) it gave her a megawatt grin. And her good mood continued for days afterwards, even when they had an ugly case. For the sake of his girlfriend's mental health (and to a lesser degree his own enjoyment), he agreed to enroll in a course. They explained to the instructor that they wouldn't be able to make it every week and she promised them that it wasn't a problem (and even threw in a NYPD discount). Tuesday night was now dance night for them, whenever possible. He shook his head as he thought about how much Flack would tease him if he ever found out. _I would get mocked until the end of my days. By Flack and probably most of the lab. But how could I not_ _do something that makes her so incredibly happy? _

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About a month (and two more dance lessons) later, Danny got into trouble at work. It wasn't as big a deal as in the past- he was a little overenthusiastic while questioning a suspect but hadn't hit the guy or anything- he just almost did. And he 'almost hit' the guy with gusto- the suspect had actually wet his pants in fear. Mac was already tired and in a bad mood and rather than listen to Danny's explanations, he just sent him home early. "Go home and calm down, Danny. Before you do anything else stupid, since you seem to be unable to control yourself today..." He sighed as Danny dropped his head in shame and left his office.

When he got home, he just sat on the couch waiting for Lindsay. While he felt bad about what happened at work, he knew that his getting sent home had more to do with Mac and his mood than his own behavior. After all, he'd done worse. So after he finished beating up on himself for being so temperamental, his mind started to drift. _It's worth a shot, Messer. She loves you- its not like she's gonna leave you or anything, if only because she signed a lease and it'd be a bitch to move her stuff again… yeah, I'm gonna go for it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained…_

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As soon as she walked through the door, she threw her coat and bag to the floor and started yelling. "Dammit, Danny, what the HELL were you thinking?!? You practically punched a suspect! You could have been fired or sued for police brutality...Seriously, sometimes I don't think there's anything going on in your head- are you just so chock-full of testosterone and aggression that nothing else can get through? You can be a great CSI sometimes but shit like this is never going to get you promoted and could very well lose you a job!" She continued to rant, so intent on getting everything off her chest that she didn't notice the expression on Danny's face until she was at least 5 minutes into her tirade. He was staring at her but he didn't seem to be paying attention to what she was saying.

"Shit, Danny, are you even listening to me? You need to shape up! Do you have any idea how disappointed Mac was in you today?..." She got cut off by Danny suddenly jumping off the couch, taking her in his arms, and pinning her against the wall. He immediately started sucking her on her neck and groping her.

"What the FUCK are you doing, Messer? If you think that this is going to distract me and get me to stop yelling…"

He groaned. "Trust me, babe, that's the LAST thing I want to happen," he growled into her ear.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? ARE YOU HIGH OR DRUNK OR WHAT? DANNY!"

He removed his mouth from her neck to look her in the eye. His own eyes were smoldering at this point. "Shit, Lindsay, when you're angry it makes me sooooo fucking horny!" _Understatement of the year, probably._

"EXCUSE ME?!?!"

"You yellin' makes me hot. So I'm cashin' in my anniversary present." He resumed his ministrations to her neck.

"Wait just a minute, Daniel Messer." He stopped with the kissing to look at her but he didn't stop grinding his body against hers. "Are you telling me that every time we fight you've wanted to have sex with me?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

This made her even madder, much to Danny's delight. Deep in the back of his mind he realized this would probably all backfire horribly but at the moment he was enjoying himself- her eyes were positively glowering and her little hands were clenched into tiny fists against his chest. _GOD I want her. _He started sucking on her earlobe at this point as he continued to rub up against his girlfriend.

"Listen, Montana, if you're not up for this that's fine. I'm not gonna force you." _I'll just go jack off while I think about you glaring at me…_ He groaned again. _She needs to make up her mind quickly. I'm dyin' here._

Meanwhile, Lindsay was in turmoil. Apparently, she could simultaneously experience conflicting emotions. She was furious with Danny- for his behavior at work, for the stunt he was pulling right now, for the implications of his revelation that he was aroused by their fighting. But she couldn't deny that her body was responding to him, as always. She inwardly rebuked her libido for betraying the rest of her mind. _Traitor. _

She shrugged and pushed Danny off her, with enough force that he fell backwards onto the floor. She quickly straddled him before he could get up. "Danny Messer, you can be SUCH an asshole sometimes. You're the most hotheaded and arrogant man I've ever met. Did I tell you that the guy you almost hit wasn't even our perp? Yeah he was a creep but he's no killer and didn't deserve to be treated that way. Sometimes you NEVER think…" She continued to yell at him as she tugged off his pants and shirt. She swiftly stood up and removed her own clothes, then stood over him with her hands on her hips. "And this business about getting horny when I'm mad- you must be horny ALL the time because you piss me off on an astoundingly regular basis!" She glared down at him.

He just grinned up at her. _Hot damn- this is even better than I hoped! _She was furious and she was yelling but she was still going to fuck him. She straddled him again and this time he was inside her. She even managed to continue to yell and glare at him for a few minutes as she rocked back and forth, but eventually she got distracted, especially when Danny sat up and started passionately kissing her. When he saw that she had moved beyond anger and was quickly approaching rapture he flipped them over and started to thrust into her while using his hand to stimulate her further. He knew he needed to get her off quick because he was barely containing himself- after all, he almost came at the sight of a naked, angry Lindsay towering over him. _She's already pissed as hell at me- if I leave her hangin' here she might just hit me on the head with the nearest blunt object._

As soon as her orgasm started he let himself go, shouting exuberantly. This was one of his oldest Montana fantasies ; back on her first day he thought she was kinda cute when she gave him a dirty look and his daydreams had progressed from there. So its culmination in the real world was definitively very intense and certainly very satisfying. _Good thing Petersen put those tiles in every room…_

When they were finished, they lay side by side on the floor for a few minutes panting. After he caught his breath, he turned to her with a big grin on his face. _That went better than I'd ever hoped it would! I'm kinda surprised she was up for it- I thought I was a dead man for a second. _It was then that he noticed Lindsay's afterglow was already gone and she was glaring at him again. _Well, maybe I still am a dead man…_

He quickly put his hand over her mouth as she started to open it. "Remember, I have a get-outta-jail-free card. You gotta forgive me for tonight. You promised."

She glowered at him for a minute, then sighed. "Alright. I forgive you for what you did tonight. But I'm still upset that you get turned on when we fight. That's not a good thing, Danny. You aren't supposed to enjoy fighting with the person you love. Does this mean you aren't really listening to me? How are we ever going to solve any of our problems?" She sounded more sad than angry at this point.

He wrapped his arms around her, confident at this point that she wasn't going to bite him or spit in his face. "Hush, baby. Don't worry too much about it. Yeah, when you're mad at me I think you're hot but I think you're hot no matter what. And essentially everything you do makes me horny- you eating, you taking a nap on the couch, you wading through trash and decomp, etc. So this isn't that big a deal. I am listening to you, with at least 95 percent of my mind. It's just a little lust lurking there, nothing to get upset over. And we've successfully worked out our problems so far, right? It hasn't interfered in our ability to resolve our little conflicts. As to the bit about not enjoying fighting, I don't like pissing you off or anything. _You just look really sexy when I do._ Additionally, I've been told by a reliable source that most of our fights actually qualify as 'bickering.' And I think it's ok to enjoy bickering. Which I do. And you seem to, too."

Lindsay sighed. "Yeah, I do." _He's right, of course. It's not that big a deal. Apparently, I'm dating a guy somewhat preoccupied with sex- holy hell, I should call 20/20 and the New York Times! Story of the decade! _She snorted and Danny lifted his eyebrows at her, which only made her laugh more.

"What's so funny, Montana?" _Laughing is much better than her screamin' at me, which is really how I expected this evening to end._

Her eyes were twinkling. "Everything Danny? Really? Everything I do turns you on?" _Ego boost! Thank you Danny Messer! Way to make a girl feel like a sex goddess!_

He grinned again and rolled over so that he was on his back and she was lying on top of him. "Pretty much, yeah," he repeated. "Only thing that I can think of that doesn't is you crying. Then I want to comfort you, not fuck your brains out. But everything else, yep. And it's been this way for, god, a year at least. You're one sexy woman, Lindsay Monroe. I'll admit that you're especially stunning when you're all passionate- and you're VERY passionate when you're fighting with me. And doing other things with me." He waggled his eyebrows and gave her a quick kiss. "Actually, you can't be mad at me for this because it's really all your fault- you're the one who's looking so hot and fuckable all the time." He looked at her accusingly.

She laughed again. "Well, I apologize for the fact that you find me constantly alluring. I'm not doing it on purpose. And in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that it's the same for me, too. Not everything, because I really don't like it when you act like a jackass and risk your life. And I don't like it when you're sad, either. But you dusting for prints, you walking down the street, you grocery shopping- all that has inspired some rather inappropriate thoughts about you." She winked at him.

He smirked at her. "I'd hardly call them inappropriate, Montana and I'm all for turning thought into deed...Well, except if we're at a crime scene. Then it really is inappropriate. And I guess Mac wouldn't really like it if we got arrested for indecent exposure because we had sex in the canned goods aisle."

"Gee, ya think?"

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	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Sorry so long since I updated- holiday season + sick in bed no time for writing. But I'm feeling better now and so things should start trickling in again. Warning: next few chapters will be on the mushy instead of the funny side, but its necessary for the plot. Just hang in there and it'll be chortle-inducing again real soon. Merry Decemeber!

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It was mid-October, and the team was having one of its all-too-rare nights out. It was Hawkes' birthday, and as the poor guy had had a fairly crappy year everybody decided he needed a break. Danny had ulterior motives- he thought that Hawkes was just about the funniest drunk he'd ever encountered: when he was sober, he seemed like such a normal guy but once he had some alcohol in him, it was readily apparent that he was MENSA member. He'd always bust out his terrific party trick of doing ridiculously complicated math problems in his head. Danny loved it- the smartest guy in the lab was barely able to stand up but still able to do Calculus in just seconds. Plus, he'd rattle off the most obscure facts on any number of subjects- one time he'd given Danny a lecture on the history of wine making in Western Europe, another time it was the mating habits of the platypus.

Everyone else had secondary motives too: besides wanting Sheldon to have a good time it was the calm before the storm. For some reason, as Halloween neared the crime rate always jumped up. Not only were there more crimes, but they tended to be weird crimes that required lots of work to process- wacko cult members, delusional teenagers who think they're vampires, plain old sick fucks who like to paint with people's blood... Needless to say, it was a very busy time of year for the crime lab.

So everyone was enjoying the opportunity to let their hair down. They were at their regular bar and a bunch of them were crammed into a little booth. Lindsay, Tricia, and Stella were talking about something but he couldn't really understand them (so that meant the topic was shoes or something- never quite sounded like English to him). He glanced around the table and had to smile when his eyes rested on one of his friends. Adam was sitting there with a goofy-ass grin on his face, staring at Trica- a goofy-ass grin that Danny identified with because he knew he certainly sported it enough. It was the grin that said "I'm not really sure how this (meaning a wonderful relationship with a woman who's way outta my league) happened but damn am I happy." He was glad to see Adam so ecstatic; the couple had had some rough spots (especially in the beginning) due to his massive insecurities. He'd asked her so many times if she was sure she wanted to be with him and not someone more sophisticated or better-looking that Danny had to pull him aside for a little talk ("Listen, buddy, if you keep naggin' her about being with some other guy, eventually she's gonna want to be with some other guy. Don't question it- just enjoy it").

His eyes wandered around the bar. Mac couldn't make it (not surprisingly), but Peyton came and she was shooting pool with the birthday boy, reminiscing about their time in the ME's office together. Flack was just wandering around because he was one of those 'friendly' drunks (meaning he tended to walk about being borderline obnoxious to everyone). Danny watched him saunter up to Hawkes at the pool table. He clapped his arm around the doctor's shoulder and asked him, "So Sheldon, what's the angle on that shot you're about to make?" Hawkes, who was also a bit buzzed, thought for half a second and said, "39 degrees." Flack laughed and Peyton immediately joined in-as she was actually good at math the questions got more and more complicated. Danny grinned as he heard his friend babble about the trajectory of the billiard ball Peyton had just sunk as well as something about logarithms. _THERE we go- out comes Hawke's inner Rainman…Hehehe… _

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Later that night, as Lindsay and Danny were standing by the jukebox arguing over what songs they wanted to hear Flack wandered over to them and gave them a big smile. "So when are you crazy kids gonna get married and start with the spawning?"

Danny turned quickly to see Lindsay's reaction- as he'd dreaded, she flinched like she'd been slapped in the face. Which in turn made him flinch. All the color ran out of her face and she looked down at the ground. "I have to go to the ladies room- I'll be right back." Danny caught her hand before she left but she just shook her head at him, so he let go. Flack looked at his friend, confusion evident on his face. "Whoa, sore spot there Messer?" Whatsa matter- why won't you marry the girl? You're never gonna find anyone better for you…I thought you were all ready to commit- buy a damn ring!"

Danny glared at his friend, then his eyes softened as he looked at the door his girlfriend had just disappeared through._…It's not me, buddy. _"It's a little more complicated than that, Flack…Don't mention it again, please?" Flack just nodded- he was lost as to what just happened but Danny said 'please' so rarely to him he knew it had to be serious. He shook himself, as if to rid himself of the last few minutes, and went to bother Stella. Danny just stood there by the jukebox, waiting for Lindsay to come back.

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Meanwhile, Lindsay was splashing cold water on her face, trying to fight the redness and tears. _WHY did Flack have to say anything? Things were going so well…_She was really content with the life she had with Danny- he loved her, she loved him, they lived together, they were happy…_Why does it have to get more complicated than that? We're fine! What we have now is good. It doesn't need to change. People should just leave us alone…Mind their own damn business, they don't know what we want. _

She thought about it for a few more minutes then sighed as she admitted to herself that Danny did want more. He never said anything about it to her, but she was paid to be observant and his body language gave him away. Like when they would cuddle on the couch watching TV, arms wrapped around each other, it was always just the underside of her left ring finger that Danny would unconsciously caress. And sometimes when he thought she was asleep he'd place a hand on her lower stomach and rub it gently as he'd sigh happily and whisper, "Someday."

She sighed again. Therein lay the problem. Danny wanted more, and she was honestly not sure she could give it to him. When Tom was killed, it obviously was devastating but finding out after the fact that he was planning on proposing was a horribly painful twist of the knife that already pierced her heart. It took too much out of her to mourn the loss of Tom as a person and the man she loved; she just didn't have it in her to mourn the loss of the future life they could have had together. So she came up with an unusual coping strategy- she convinced herself that she didn't want to get married, that she'd never wanted to get married and thus the loss of what she almost had didn't sting so much.

This being Lindsay, when she thought of something she rolled up her sleeves and jumped in with a desire to be effective and thorough. She did research- she had statistics about the divorce rate, spousal abuse, and estimated numbers of unhappy marriages and incidents of infidelity in the US. She read super-radical feminist books about how outdated marriage was as an institution and how it should be banned if only because of its terrible chauvinistic history (i.e., women being considered property). She read about how most of American society no longer considered marriage necessary to be respectable- you could live with a man and even have children with no ring and be considered normal. Weddings themselves were dismissed based on the average cost as well as the case studies about the stress involved in planning one. Lindsay did not do things by halves. She even selectively edited her memory to try and erase any Barbie marriages or teenage perusals of Bride magazine- after years of telling herself it hadn't happened she eventually believed it.

This wasn't something she'd only done right after Tom was killed- it was a practice she'd continued for the past 10 years. Like she'd told Danny, she never dealt with her issues and all her grief and simply continued to keep herself numb. When she began working as a CSI, she looked up studies about the number of law-enforcement personnel who had failed relationships due to their crazy hours and the unpleasant and dangerous nature of their job and this was her excuse as to why she avoided serious relationships. As for kids, she loved them but she told herself that she didn't want any because her job was too important, time-consuming, risky, etc. In her heart of hearts she knew all of this was complete bullshit but she just couldn't admit it. The wall Lindsay had built out of statistics and rationalizations to protect her heart wasn't just made of bricks; it was made of steel and cement. Ten solid years of lying to herself and convincing herself that she hated marriage and everything it stood for and that she would never succumb to its nefarious clutches was not easily overcome, not even by six months of bliss.

But then again, Danny could be a wrecking ball. She smiled through her tears as she realized all the progress she'd made so far with him by her side. _Maybe I'm not a hopeless case after all…_ The wall that kept her from taking things to the next level with Danny was still intact but there was reason to believe that cracks were appearing. Then it was just a matter of time before it came tumbling down. It had no chance of surviving the force of nature that is Daniel Messer. _God bless his stubbornness…it's exactly what I need. _

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When she finally emerged from the restroom, she saw Danny standing exactly where she'd left him, his face filled with concern. She knew that some of the remnants of her tears were still visible and that it would only make him more upset so she quickly wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest as he engulfed her in a hug. After a few minutes she looked up at him with a small smile. "I'm ok, honest Danny…" _Or I will be, at least. Just be patient with me…_She had no doubt in her mind that he would.

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	26. Chapter 26

After her little meltdown in the bar, Danny was certain that she'd finally open up to him some more. But she didn't. He'd come to accept that trying to get her to talk to him about her issues was counterproductive- she'd just retreat further into herself like a little hermit crab. So he'd stopped nagging her about it and had hope that one day she'd come to him. He loved her and didn't give a damn about her having more baggage than a Samsonite store. He just wished she'd let him help her. Not that he thought she couldn't handle things on her own- he loved her strength- it just might be less painful for her that way. And he wouldn't feel so damn helpless.

Fortunately, no one at work ever mentioned the dreaded 'M' word to Lindsay and Danny again. Flack being the gossip he is (despite earning the nickname 'Yente' from Lindsay, Danny decided that Don was more of a nosy old woman than he'd ever be) had told everybody to avoid the topic. The reason he gave was that Danny was apparently too chickenshit to propose because, to Flack, it seemed like a safe assumption based on his friend's history. Danny found himself the recipient of many rolled eyes, saddened glares, and 'tut-tuts' from people all over the crime lab including Stella and Mac, and he didn't mind one bit. He'd rather have folks think it was his shit that was holding them back and get all the disappointed looks than have people knowing Lindsay was the one with the problem. She had enough crap to deal with; she didn't need everyone wagging their tongues about her issues. _If this is the only way she's willing to let me help her, then I'll gladly do it. _

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They survived the hell that was Halloween, and almost before anyone knew it, it was Thanksgiving. Lindsay was looking forward to a holiday not spent in the lab- she hadn't had an opportunity to experience it since moving to New York (she'd considered it selfish to request the day off when all she had planned was sitting on her couch by herself watching the parade and eating leftover Chinese food). She also couldn't help but be relieved that there were no nerves associated with her and Danny's first Thanksgiving together- she'd already met and spent lots of time with everyone who was going to be at Ma Messer's. _I shouldn't be glad that Danny doesn't speak to most of his family, but it is kinda nice to know I'll never have to be in a situation like he was this August with my family! _

Danny stood in the doorway to their bedroom, jangling the keys to lab truck he'd borrowed for the night. "You ready to go, babe? I wanna get there early so I can find a parking spot." When Danny's mother had left the 'ancestral' Messer neighborhood, she'd gotten a small apartment in Brooklyn. Danny had joked that her new block was entirely populated by cute little old ladies and there must have been some truth in that statement, because on every holiday the amount of cars near his mother's building would quadruple- apparently all these cute little old ladies all had their children come home for holiday dinner.

"I'm all set now. I just wanted to change my pants to something with a bit of stretch in them- I forgot that your mother views everybody as walking pillowcases waiting to be stuffed and I'm betting it's worse on Thanksgiving. Am I right?"

Danny's nodded his head vigorously. "HELL yeah. Just you wait and see how much food she made- nobody would ever dream that she cooked so much for five people. The woman can't help but bake in bulk."

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If Lindsay had imagined this would be a calmer, quieter meal than any of the Monroe Thanksgivings due to the drastic difference in size, she couldn't have been more wrong. Yes, there were only four Messers as opposed to the 25+ her mother usually fed. But the four Messers were louder and more boisterous than a table-full of Lindsay's family (actually, Lindsay suspected that Danny and Tony alone could be louder than everyone in her entire extended family).

"Maureen, this food is amazing!" Lindsay was glad she'd opted for the stretchy pants- Danny's mother had cooked to feed an army and it was all so good that Lindsay was tempted to eat like elephant.

"Danny, your gal there sure knows how to pack it away! Man, that's hot. I hope you lay a dropcloth down when you take her out to restaurants." Tony joked.

Danny elbowed his cousin in the gut. "Shaddup, you. She's always hot. And I like the way she eats."

Lindsay waved her fork threateningly at Tony. "Yeah, watch it. Especially since you're eating like there's no tomorrow, too. As for that dropcloth comment…you could open up a soup kitchen with what you have on your shirt right now."

Maureen stood up with her hands on her hips. "Children! No fighting, you hear? It's Thanksgiving. It's a time for family and counting your blessings and love and if you don't stop making those faces at your cousin this INSTANT Daniel Messer there'll be no pie for you!" Everyone laughed as Danny immediately adopted the sad little puppy look that had always gotten him out of trouble as a child.

Tony reached over and pinched his cheek. "Aww, widdle Danny wants some pie! Don't cry, widdle Danny-wanny…" Danny slapped his hand away, and before Jess or Lindsay could stop them, both their chairs had fallen backwards and they were wrestling on the floor. Danny reached up to the table, grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes and dumped it over his cousin's head.

"DANNY!" Lindsay and Maureen yelled at the same time. But Jess had been watching her husband as the other two women were scolding Danny and saw him reach for the gravy boat.

"TONY MESSER. IF YOU DO WHAT YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT DOING YOU WILL BE CUT OFF. NO SEX FOR A WEEK, YOU HEAR ME?!?!" He scowled but did as he was told and Jess helped him wipe the potatoes off his head.

Meanwhile, Maureen was pulling Danny up from the floor by his ear. "I don't know WHY you and your cousin insist on making this a tradition. I work so hard each year on all this food and all you two buffoons want to do is throw it at each other! It's meant to go in Tony's stomach, Daniel, not on Tony's head. Honestly, sometimes I can't believe that you two act like responsible adults in the outside world. How come I never get to see Danny the CSI or Tony the attorney? Why do I only ever see Danny and Tony the stupid idiots? Ok, you know the deal. You started it this year Danny, that means you do the dishes."

"But Ma, I didn't start it! He was the one who was making the 'widdle Danny' jokes!"

"Yes, he did. But you were the first one to reach for the food. Rules are rules, Daniel. Don't try to weasel out of it- you know two years ago you provoked your cousin into throwing the first roll and he still had to wash the dishes. And don't try and get Lindsay to help you, either."

"Like that'd happen," she said with a snort.

Danny looked wounded. "I see how it is! You're all taking his side! My own mother! My own girlfriend! Et tu, Montana?" He pressed his hand dramatically to his head.

"Oh, quit with your bellyaching or I really won't let you have any pie."

"Yes, Ma."

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Lindsay sat watching the football game with Tony, Jess, and Maureen as Danny cleaned up. "So how long have you had a Thanksgiving food-fight, Maureen?"

Maureen rolled her eyes. "I don't even know. They did it all the time when they were little, of course. And now that I think about it, the first Thanksgiving where it was just the three of us Tony did smash a pie into Danny's face. I suppose Tony was trying to distract us or cheer us up- it worked. I was irate, Danny laughed so hard he got cherries up his nose." She smiled at the memory. "I'd hoped that it would all stop once Tony got married, but that year Jess here was the one who hit Tony with a drumstick. She's stayed out of it since then but the damage was done. It's tradition." She shrugged, as if to say 'what can you do?'

Lindsay laughed, then went to check on her boyfriend who was hard at work over the sink. "You know, you owe Jess a debt- you could have had second-degree gravy burns all over that pretty face of yours."

He turned around and she just had to smile- he was covered in suds and had on ridiculous yellow gloves that came up to his elbows. "Aww, you think I'm pretty, Montana? Pretty enough to risk a slightly moist hug?"

She thought for a minute, and then wrapped her arms around him. "Why didn't you warn me about your little tradition, Danny?"

He winked at her. "I was testin' ya- I wanted to see if you'd join in or not. You clearly aren't as much fun as I thought you were, Monroe."

She squeezed him slightly then stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. "Danny, when you and I play with our food, we'll be in the privacy of our bedroom, not your mother's kitchen. And we'll be playing with chocolate syrup, not mashed potatoes." She leaned back so she could admire her handiwork- as she'd hoped, his face was bright red and his mouth was hanging open. "Enjoy the rest of your dishes, Messer," she called as she left the kitchen leaving a stunned Danny in her wake.

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"Goodnight! Thanks again for having me, and for all the food!" Lindsay said as she gave Maureen a big hug.

"Bah. No need to say thanks. You're family- where else would you go on Thanksgiving? And I'm sorry that there's no potatoes with your leftovers but you can bring that up with Danny."

"Oh believe me, I will." She said playfully as she smacked him on the arm. "Depriving a girl of mashed potatoes with her turkey, Messer? That's a serious offense!"

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Danny and Lindsay were back in their apartment, their refrigerator now stuffed with food. They were lying in their favorite position on the couch as they watched a movie- Danny on his back, and Lindsay on his stomach. When they both decided that the movie wasn't worth finishing and turned it off, neither of them moved. After a minute, Danny gently kissed Lindsay's forehead.

"Hey, Montana? You know what I'm thankful for?... It's you. The thing is you made me into a better guy. I'm a better friend, a better son, a better CSI, and certainly a better boyfriend since you came along. I don't know how much gossip you listened to when you first got here but I imagine people didn't have much good to say about me. I was definitely one of those guys who thought monogamy was for suckers. I wasn't Hugh Hefner or anything but I had my share of women. I wasn't really a bad guy…I guess you could call me neglectful. They just were never my number one priority- my friends and family always came before whatever girl I happened to be seeing at the time. I generally tried to make sure to go with girls who knew exactly what I was looking for but I know that I broke some hearts along the way and at the time, I'm not sure how much I cared. I honestly hadn't grown up- I was acting like I was eighteen when I was 28. Pretty pathetic, actually."

He stopped and kissed her forehead again. "Then you came along and it was like I grew up overnight. I went from thinking monogamy was stupid to wanting to spend each and every night with just you. You kept me from becoming that creepy old guy who hangs around bars all the time hitting on girls way too young for him and you did all that before we even started dating! That's a frickin' miracle, Montana. I thought that was my fate for the longest time. And you didn't just fall down at my feet. You were a check to my ego and you made me learn how to be patient…Anyway, I just never thought I'd be at the point in my life where I could be described as 'mature' or 'devoted boyfriend' but you managed to turn me into both those things and I love it. So thanks, babe. I love you. Hope you don't mind that I got all mushy there for a minute."

Lindsay silenced him by kissing him sweetly. "Danny, you never need to apologize for being 'mushy'! I love it when you say sweet stuff like that. And that's basically the sweetest thing that anyone has ever said to me, ever." She kissed him again. "And I should say thank you, too. Because I'm so incredibly thankful for you, Danny. Did you ever read 'Great Expectations' when you were in high school?" He nodded. "Because for years I felt like I was destined to end up like Miss Havisham - the one who spent the rest of her life in her wedding dress mourning her dead fiancée. I hid my grief a little better than her but I was still just as stuck in the past. Then there were days where I thought I'd just go completely numb and shut everyone out…. My options weren't good- total nutjob or ice princess…But you saved me from both those things. I moved to New York for a fresh start but I didn't really have a chance at that until you forced me to deal with everything. So now I really do have my fresh start and it's wonderful and I'm so happy."

Danny grinned at her and gave her a big kiss. "We're each other's superhero, then- that's good. I didn't want you gettin' all cocky knowin' you saved me from my pathetic existence as a future sleazebag."

She laughed. As always, Danny knew just how to lighten the mood. But she had one more thing to tell him first. "You're more than my superhero, Danny…I've been thinking about it a lot and I've realized something: you're the love of my life. Tom was my first love and obviously very special to me and there'll always be an important place for him in my heart. But you're the one I was meant to love."

Danny's grin widened even more and for a second Lindsay thought she saw a glimmer in his eyes. _Did I just make Danny Messer cry? _But before she had time to process this information, Danny was crushing her to him in a tight embrace.

"Oh god, Montana, I think that's the best thing I've ever heard in my ENTIRE life! I love you so much, baby…So so so much…"

Neither of them spoke much for the rest of the night, but hours later as she lay there in his arms Lindsay was surprised to realize she was a teensy bit disappointed that Danny hadn't said something else. Or more specifically, hadn't asked something. _WHOA. If that's not food for thought I don't know what is…_

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A/N: My holidays are a little off, but anyway holidays are a time for somewhat cheesy sentiment. Forgive me. I have something (hopefully) funny coming next...will be up soon!_  
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	27. Chapter 27

Taking a deep breath, he dialed the number he'd stolen from Lindsay's cell phone. "Gail? It's Danny."

"Hi Danny- is something wrong? Did something happen to Lindsay?!?"

"God no! Nothing like that. I just need a favor. Sorry, didn't mean to scare you…"

"OH! Oh. Ok. Just a little paranoid about these things. So what can I do for you?"

"Um…I know this is a long-shot but by any chance when you talk to Lindsay do you mention marriage the way most mothers do? The way mine does almost every time I speak to her?" He figured in this case, with Lindsay's history and Gail's understanding nature it was unlikely but he was at his wit's end and didn't know where else to turn.

"Actually, I do, sometimes. Obviously it's nothing pushy like 'When are you getting married so I can have more grandchildren!' but I do from time to time bring it up." What Gail wasn't telling him was that she'd only started dropping the occasional subtle reference to marriage since his visit this summer. It was part of her strategy to get Lindsay thinking about it as she knew all about her daughter's penchant for denial.

"Really! That's great! 'Cause I'd really like to ask her soon and it seems like she might be ok with it but I know asking before she's ready is just gonna make things worse in a major way. I was hoping that you might be able to test the waters a bit for me."

"What did you have in mind, Danny?"

"Well,…."

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"Hey Montana…" Danny asked one day at work. 

"Yes Danny?"

"You like traditions, right?"

His tone of voice made her pause. Actually, his tone of voice plus her experience with what counted as a Messer 'tradition' gave her pause. "Yeah, I guess so, why?"

He shuffled his feet in front of him like a little boy. "Um, every year the guys usually come over and watch a movie around Christmas."

_That doesn't sound so bad. What is he leaving out?_ "Oh?"

He shuffled his feet some more. "Well, the guys come over and watch a movie and we play a, um, game."

Now she understood. Danny and his friends had an astonishingly large supply of drinking games leftover from their college days. They didn't drink very often because of their various careers but when they did, they did it like they meant it. She laughed as she thought about the last time Danny was at the bar with Tony and his friends from school. Danny had put an old Sting song on the jukebox and half of the guys drank whenever the song went 'Roxanne' while the other half drank whenever they heard 'Put on the red light.' By the end of the song, they were pounding drinks and the entire group ended up completely wasted. _Where in the hell did they learn that one? Danny doesn't even like Sting...  
_

But up until now, Danny's friends kept that behavior confined to the bars. This was the first time he was asking to have a group of 15 drunken guys over to their apartment. _Decision time Lindsay-are you a 'cool' girlfriend or a shrew? _"Of course they can come over, Danny. It's your place too."

His grin lit up the office. "Great! Thanks!"

The night of the party, Lindsay was helping Danny rearrange the furniture around the TV to fit his pack of friends. "So do I have to leave tonight or what? Is this a guy's night only thing or something?"

Danny shook his head. "Nah, you don't gotta leave. It's usually just us guys but that's only 'cause the womenfolk don't want to come, not because they aren't invited."

Having been around Danny and his guy friends when they're all hammered and having born witness to how obnoxious and juvenile they all got, she understood that easily enough. "So who's coming tonight?"

"Some of my old team. And a couple of years ago Flack started coming. Tony, too, of course."

"Can I ask what movie it is?" She was curious- she knew they all went to Flack's and watched 'Boondock Saints' for St. Patrick's Day (and drank every time they said 'Fuck') but for the life of her she couldn't come up with a good drinking movie for Christmas.

"You'll see," he told her with a wink.

Shortly thereafter, Tony showed up in a state of panic. "DANNY! THE TAPE IS RUINED!"

"What? How? NO!!!"

"I know! Jess leant it to our neighbor and the kid apparently stuck it in the microwave! And I stopped at every video store between my place and yours and they're all sold out!"

"FUCK! What are we going to do?!?"

Lindsay placed a hand on each man's shoulder. "Calm down, we'll think of something. Now what movie was it?"

Tony turned to her, despair clearly evident on his face. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"

"WHAT?!?" she choked out, trying not to laugh when Danny and Tony were so upset.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, we've watched it every Christmas for over 10 years. You drink whenever they say 'Grinch' or 'Who.'"

"Or when he's mean to the dog," Tony chimed in.

Danny's face was as sorrow-filled as Tony's. "What the hell are we gonna do, man? They'll be here any minute."

She thought for a minute. "I think I have a solution."

"What? Montana, do you have a copy? I never even thought to ask you!"

"No, Danny, I don't own the Grinch movie- he always scared me when I was a kid." She shuddered. "But I think I do have a good substitute. I'll be right back- let me see if I can find it." She ran to the closet to look through her trunk of movies that she didn't watch very often and returned in a few minutes proudly clutching a DVD.

Tony strained to read the title that she was holding. "'A Muppet's Christmas Carol?' Are you fucking kidding me, Lindsay?"

She huffed indignantly. "Says the guy who was going to watch the Grinch with all his 30-something year old buddies? Beggers can't be choosers, Tony. You can use this one instead and drink every time…." she scrunched her forehead in thought, "…they say Scrooge…and every time they sing…and every time you see Gonzo. That should get you good and drunk."

Tony and Danny looked at each other and shrugged. _We have no other choice… _

Later that night, Lindsay was sitting at the computer emailing her family as Danny and his friends enjoyed their movie. They were all skeptical at first, particularly Flack who claimed to have a Muppet phobia ('Kermit has some guy's hand up his butt!') but their inhibitions to Jim Henson had faded as they ingested more and more alcohol.

"SCROOGE!" they all cried and quickly drank as Michael Caine appeared.

"GONZO!" Danny pointed out and they had another.

When the movie was over, they hit 'Play' again and jumped ahead to all the musical scenes. Lindsay had to use ever ounce of willpower not to go get her digital camera when they started all singing along (or trying to, at least). Her willpower caved when Flack got on his knees and Danny (who was waving a ruler like a little crutch) perched on his shoulder so that his 'Tiny Tim' impersonation could be more complete. Danny managed to get out the 'God bless us, every one!' line but Flack's lack of sobriety had severely affected his balance and strength and they both went crashing to the floor.

Lindsay got it all on video.

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	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Thank you reviewers! Keep 'em coming, if you so choose- they really do encourage me to write more. (And make me fix mistakes that my conductor would have whooped my ass for in college- thanks!)

BTW- I feel as if I should have mentioned in the last chapter that all the (cough) games I mentioned work rather well. Or so I've heard, of course (cough cough)…

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The next day at work, Lindsay sat in front of computer, thinking. The office was quiet as Danny had the day off (having anticipated a 'sick day'). She had lots to ponder. For starters, she was calculating the odds of Danny forgiving her if she showed everyone at work the footage from last night. _He loves you…but a man's ego is a delicate thing…and Flack's an awful big guy, not that he'd ever hurt a woman. They would_ _be really pissed, though… _She decided to keep that thought on ice for now. _Maybe next year…or five years from now. Or maybe I can hold onto it for blackmail, just in case… _

She was also contemplating the conversation she'd had with her mother the night before, before all of Danny's friends had come over. She'd called for her Thursday check-in and her mother had told her that one of Lindsay's old classmates was getting married that Sunday and how the town was a-buzz with details.

"Everyone wants to know when your wedding will be, dear," she said in a joking tone of voice. "They all really liked 'that nice boy Lindsay brought home this summer, even if he did talk funny.'"

Lindsay groaned. _What is it with people and minding their own business?_ "What did you tell them?"

"That they'd need to check with you about the date."

"What?! That sounds like I'm already planning it! I mean, Danny hasn't even proposed yet!"

"'Yet?' How very interesting. So it sounds like if Danny does propose the answer would be yes?"

"Of course!" she had blurted out without even thinking. However, now she had time to think about it and she was doubting her answer. And then doubting her doubt. _Dammit, _ _Monroe__, when are you going to make up your mind about this? It's not fair to him! Woman, thy name is wishy-washy… _

She sighed, and vowed not to think about it for the rest of the day. Then she opened up the computer file that held the pictures and video from last night. She laughed at the ones of Flack and Danny- a.k.a. Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim. But it was the shot of Danny passed out on the couch (clutching an empty tequila bottle with a Santa hat jauntily perched over one eye) that made her heart melt. _Even when he's drunk as a skunk and acting like he's 13 years old I can't help but love him. _

_-----------------------------------------------------------------_

Unbeknownst to her, that afternoon Danny checked his email from their home computer and received a message from a GMonroemontana.mail:

_Danny-_

_The eagle has landed. All systems go._

_-Gail_

Also unbeknownst to Lindsay was Danny's reaction: "HALLE-FUCKING-LUJAH! Thank you God! Thank you Gail! WOO-HOO!"

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"Bonasera."

"Stella! I need you!" The voice on the phone was full of panic.

She let out an exaggerated sigh. "Danny, you have to fight your feelings- you know things would never work out between us. Besides, what would Lindsay say?"

"Ha ha, very funny. Not that kinda 'need,' lady. I need you in your capacity as my almost-sister."

"I figured as much. What can I do for you?"

"Have you taken your lunch break yet?" He knew that even though it was almost 3:30 the odds were in his favor and she hadn't. In the lab, eating at the proper time of day is a pipedream (Mac, being the most hard-core of CSIs, had been know to eat 'lunch' at 7:00 pm and would then accordingly have 'dinner' at 3 am).

"Well, no…but I was thinking about it. An actual sandwich instead of a Powerbar, even."

"Ok- meet me in the deli in half-an-hour? I'll buy you a quote actual sandwich in exchange for you making with the advice."

"Deal."

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"So Danny, what's got you in such a state?" Stella took a bite of her lunch as she looked at her friend, concern all over her face (well, concern and relief over eating real food in lieu of a protein bar).

"I'm gonna ask Montana to marry me."

"That's so great! Oh my god, Danny, I'm so proud of you!" It occurred to her that despite relating such happy news, Danny didn't look happy. He looked stricken. "So what's the problem? Do you need my help picking out a ring? We can go jewelry shopping…" She was used to being all her guy friends' shopping guide- she'd helped Mac buy Claire's Christmas and birthday presents for years and now helped him with stuff for Peyton. _I've got a gift and I've been chosen to share that gift- born to shop! _

He shook his head. "Nah, got the ring. I just got no clue about how to do it," he whined. "I want it to be special an' everything, but I dunno what counts as romantic and wonderful versus ridiculous and cheesy. I got a list of some ideas I've had- maybe I can go through it and you can give me thumbs up/thumbs down?"

She nodded and he pulled an extremely dirty and wrinkled piece of paper out of his pocket. He started to read and Stella would cut him off as soon as her mind was made up about each idea. He'd made it to number 14 on his list and had received 4 polite yet vigorous head shakings, 3 snorts, 1 outright laugh, 2 winces, 2 wavy hands indicating 'maybes', and 1 "If that was the least bit feasible it'd be cute but…" He let out a big sigh, read the last item on his list, and looked at Stella's face to determine the verdict. Her eyes were glistening and her lip was quivering.

"So that's the one then?"

She took a moment to collect herself then gave him a little hug. "Yeah, I'd say so. I should have had you read your little list from the bottom up. Honestly, Danny, where did you even think of some of that stuff? Do you even know anyone with a helicopter? And where did you think you could get a trained tiger from?""

Danny shrugged. He'd actually come up with most of them on his own, but some of the more outlandish ones were the result of a brainstorming session with Tony and a pitcher of beer. "I told you I needed you. It's not like I've ever done this before. Anyway, thanks for the input and for not laughing at me too badly. That's why I asked you for help and not Jess- she'd be rolling on the ground in hysterics instead of helpin' me out."

Stella smiled. "I was tempted, but this is too big a deal for you to be left without female guidance. After all, if you hadn't come to me, Lindsay might have ended up getting mauled by a tiger! And we both now how messy that can be."

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"So Danny, about Christmas…" she asked one night about a week before the holiday.

"Yeah Montana?"

"What's happening?"

"Well, since we both had Thanksgiving off we'll be on-call Christmas Eve. And we'll definitely get called in." Violent crime seemed to jump on all holidays that involved families getting together but Christmas was especially bad. The stress from shopping plus family drama (bitchy siblings, nagging in-laws, etc.) generally made for a spike in the murder rate. "But we're sure to close whatever case we get real quick. So we should make it to Ma's for dinner on Christmas Day. Mac tries to let everybody spend at least a little time with their family if they want to."

"So when are we going to exchange gifts, honey?"

"Who's sayin' I got you anything? Flack's been telling me I spoil you, and as he knows soooo much about women I thought I'd listen to his advice and not get you a present."

Lindsay put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Danny Messer, don't even joke about that. Christmas is my favorite holiday!"

"I'd never guessed," Danny deadpanned. In his opinion, it looked like Christmas had vomited all over their apartment- there were more Santa Clauses then he could count, not to mention one big-ass tree. Still, it made her happy.

"You don't need to buy me anything but even if it's just a rock with a smiley face drawn on it I want something to unwrap! Capiche?"

He winced at her terrible Italian. "Understood. Do you think you can wait until we home from Ma's?" She pouted, and he laughed. "Ok, we'll find a way to unwrap one Christmas morning." Lindsay grinned as Danny wrapped his arms around her. "It's good to know you're so deeply in touch with your inner child, Monroe."

"Oh, that's rich! Says the most immature guy in the lab!"

"First, that'd be Flack. Hands down, no questions asked on that point. Second, I act like a teenager. You occasionally act like an 8 year old. So even if I'm immature more often, you are technically more immature." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Thanks for proving my point, Montana."

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Danny's predictions were all accurate, although they did have time to have a lovely Christmas Eve date before getting called in that night: they caught an early screening of "It's a Wonderful Life" followed by ice skating and dinner. They'd both been CSIs long enough to know that Christmas cases were always especially heartbreaking, and they wanted to do something happy and festive before facing the dark side of the holiday.

They were called to a scene where a small, grandmotherly looking victim lay on the kitchen floor, COD Blunt Force Trauma to the back of the head. After spending much of the night in the Reconstruction Lab, they determined that the weapon had been a frozen turkey. Once they knew that, the victim's daughter broke down and confessed during interrogation- her mother had always nagged her and insulted her cooking, despite the fact the daughter had hosted every holiday dinner for the last 15 years.

"I cook for 20 people for Easter, Thanksgiving, AND Christmas…I make 12 kinds of pie because she wanted me to. I make two kinds of mashed potatoes because she insisted. And did my mother ever have anything nice to say to me? NO! She was just going on about what a wretched cook I am and how every Christmas is torture because people are subjected to my food- no one else in my family has ever volunteered to make Christmas dinner! No one even offers to help! My mother would come over the night before every holiday meal not to help me but to stand in my kitchen and criticize me! I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I didn't mean to kill her, I just wanted her to shut up…" The woman started sobbing and couldn't stop. They ultimately had to sedate her in order to lead her to her jail cell.

Danny stood there, shaking his head as the two uniforms led the drugged woman away. "Wow. When we first realized what our murder weapon was I thought it was kinda funny but this is just sad. It's always sad. There's a coupla kids out there who just lost their ma and their grandma. Merry fucking Christmas." He shook his head again, and Lindsay took his hand in hers. She didn't say anything; there was nothing to say in a case like this.

She glanced down at her watch. They'd been there all night. "Let's go get a bagel from the break room, then finish up and get out of here. We have time for a nap before we have to be at your mom's." Danny just nodded.

When they got to the break room, they smiled at the "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree Stella had put up in there. The straggly little evergreen was decorated in snowflakes made of micropipette caps and glittery test tubes. Someone had made an origami star out of a blank DNA analysis request form to go on the top of the tree. _Man, we are geeks, _Danny thought with a chuckle. He bent down and picked up one of the wrapped presents that sat at the bottom.

"Hey Montana, its Christmas morning….you want it?"

Lindsay's eyes lit up. "Hold that thought! Be right back!" She darted out of the break room and was back in less than a minute, holding a gift bag.

"Here ya go, Linds. You first." He handed her the surprising heavy, terribly wrapped package. She eagerly ripped it open, tore the lid off of the box, and looked at him with an expression of sheer vexation.

"Danny Messer. What is this?" _You should have seen this coming, _ _Monroe__… _

He grinned. "It's exactly what you asked for!" He reached into the box for her and pulled out a rock. A rock that had a bright yellow smiley face crudely painted on it. He waved it in her face. "I made it myself. Just what you always wanted, right babe?" She took it from him and tossed it from hand to hand, cocking an eyebrow at him. "I'm kidding of course. Here, this is your present." He picked up another small package. "It's just a silly little thing- you've got lots more waiting for you at home."

She tore into this one a little less eagerly than the last one but squealed in delight when she pulled out a model Ford Pinto. "Danny! I love it! Thank you!"

He shrugged. "Somebody mentioned something about you loving one that you got for your 16th birthday a long whiles back. I listen, I remember. It's all in the Messer steel trap." He tapped a finger to the side of his head and winked at her. "Now what do I get? Gimme gimme."

She sighed as he grabbed the bag from her hands. "You're lucky that you're too old for Santa - you're so rude you'd be on the Naughty list for sure."

" Montana, you know you like it when I'm naughty." He winked at her again, then reached into the bag and pulled out a picture frame. It was in the shape of a baseball diamond that held a photo from their first Yankee game together- Danny had his arm around her, Lindsay had his hat on her head, and they were both grinning like mad. "Hey! That's pretty cool! I love it. Thanks, Linds!" He smiled down at the picture for a minute, then looked at her. "That's kinda funny. We both got each other something to sit on our desks. Which is good 'cause it's looking pretty sparse in our office. Well, you being the lucky lady you are got two somethings to sit on your desk." He gave a pointed look to the smiley face rock that Lindsay had put on the table in order to open her second present.

She rolled her eyes and picked up the rock again. "Fine, Messer, but just bear in mind it's something I'm gonna keep handy in case you ever piss me off and I need something to chuck at you!"

He smiled and pointed to the ugly smiley face. "Not gonna happen. 'Cause you're gonna see that happy little guy there and he's gonna cheer you up instantly and you're not gonna want to chuck anything at sweet old me. See, I'm a smart guy. I've got things all worked out."

She rolled her eyes again. "Yes, you're brilliant. Now let's get everything cleaned up so we can go home and get a little sleep before your mom forces food down our throats." But Danny noticed that she placed the rock on her desk next to the Pinto and that it sat there proudly for years to come. And she never once threw it.

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"Danny, I shouldn't be worried about another food fight, should I?" They were on their way to Maureen's house and Lindsay was bracing herself for another Messer holiday.

He looked appalled. "On Christmas? Certainly not! Harumph!"

"Excuse me, I had no intention of offending. You and Tony are always so genteel and refined, whatever was I thinking?" She stuck out her tongue at him again. "But surely you have something stupid and 'traditional.'"

Danny was silent for a minute. "Well, maybe we do. I resent the implication that it's stupid just because me and Tony do it." He gave her a sideways glance and a mischievous little smile. "Even if your implication is true."

As it turned out, the stupid Christmas tradition was Danny and Tony going to the roof of the building and shouting out truly horrific and off-key versions of "O Holy Night," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," and of course, "Up on the Rooftop." Amazing, no one called the cops. Maureen explained it to her as the three women stuck their heads out the window to listen to the frightening serenade.

"Its 5 pm so no kids are trying to sleep, the people on my block are mostly deaf, and those that aren't have a good sense of humor." To Lindsay's surprise, they heard scattered applause from other open apartment windows. Maureen just shrugged. "People like traditions, even obnoxious ones. If they didn't get up there and 'sing,' people would probably complain. Besides, it's Christmas!"

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"We're not visiting your mother anymore, you hear? She makes me eat too much!" She groaned and clutched at her stomach as she walked through the door to their apartment and plopped herself on the couch.

" Montana, we'd break her heart if we stopped visiting. And no one held a gun to your head and made you eat."

"She knows she's a good cook! And she makes lots of that good food of her. She might not hold a gun to my head but I was coerced- forces outside my control made me ingest more food than I can hold! A force known as Maureen Messer!" She groaned again.

"I know what'll distract you from your digestive difficulties- I've got the rest of your presents here." He waved a hand at the gifts that surrounded their 'big-ass' tree.

"Danny, you got me way too much!"

He shrugged. "Well, I told you Flack said I was spoiling you. And like he said, he knows so much about women. So I decided to go with the exact opposite of what he recommended. Which meant I had to spoil you more. And it certainly doesn't look like I'm gonna be deprived, either. Before you go accusing me of buying too much, let's take a look-see at how much you bought me."

Lindsay shrugged. "Touché, Messer. But we'll only ever have one first Christmas together."

They happily unwrapped their gifts and each of them received a multitude of thoughtful, useful, and/or desirable items. They were soon surrounded in a sea of clothes, books, CDs, DVDs, and other assorted presents. Soon they each had just one left.

"Here, Danny, I went first at the lab- your turn." He tore into the packaging to find an autographed baseball. He started reading the signatures and quickly identified the roster, then let out a gasp.

"Lindsay, this is the Subway-Series team! Yankees, 2000!" _My own personal Holy Grail! _

"Yeah, and it's complete- they all signed it. Let me tell you, this sucker was hard to track down." Danny just stared reverently at the ball for a few minutes more, then placed it back on its little pedestal.

"That's AMAZING, Montana. I never mentioned that I wanted this, but I really really did. How'd ya know?"

She snorted "Cut a girl some slack, Messer. I am a CSI- and you are very easy to read."

"Ok, your turn now. Danny handed her an enormous box. "Unwrap it carefully." She did as she was told, and opened the big box to find a slightly smaller box inside, with an envelope taped to it. She opened the envelope and found two tickets to 'The Drowsy Chaperone,' a Broadway play.

"Danny! I haven't seen that one yet! And I heard it was really, really good! I've really wanted to go!"

"I know. Open the box." She did, and found another box with another envelope taped to it. That envelope held two tickets to a performance of Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons.'

"The NY Philharmonic? WOW Danny! I haven't seen them yet."

"Again, I know. Open the next box."

She did, and this time she found two tickets to the ballet. " Swan Lake? You're gonna take me to see Swan Lake?" He nodded, and she opened the final box. "CARMEN? Oh my god! I love that opera! I've never seen it performed live!" She dove at him and wrapped her arms around his neck while making all kinds of excited squealing noises.

"For the last time, Montana, I know. And the paperwork to give us off for all these nights has already gone in- this should keep us busy for the next four months. After that, you pick what hoity-toity cultural event you want us to do each month." He grinned at her, and she squealed some more.

Her hug had progressed to a tackle at this point, and he lay back on the floor as she excitedly kissed his face everywhere. "You" kiss "are" kiss "the best" kiss "boyfriend" kiss "ever" kiss "and I" kiss "love" kiss "you" kiss "so" kiss "MUCH!"

He just smirked. "I know."

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Danny was lying in bed waiting for Lindsay to come out of the bathroom. She was taking a long time in there, which meant one of two things: a) she was doing one of her crazy compulsive tooth-cleaning regimens or b) he was in for a treat. _Aw man, it's Christmas…I hope she's not just flossing a lot… _

"Danny," she called from the bathroom in a familiar tone of voice. "I've got another present for you."

_HELL yeah! Not floss! Woo-boy! _"Really, babe? I'm all ears," he called back.

"Your ears aren't going to help you much…I'm thinking about different body parts entirely," she said as she slunk around the corner.

His mouth dropped over. If someone ten minutes ago had asked Danny if he thought Mrs. Claus was sexy, he'd have looked at them like they were a frickin' lunatic. But that was before he saw Lindsay wearing a teeny tiny, extremely short red skirt and red bra (both complete with white faux-fur trim of course), a garter belt with black fishnet stockings, and tall black boots. Oh, and Santa hat. _I think I have a new fetish…_It wasn't as revealing as some of her other lingerie but for some reason it seemed like the most slutty thing he'd ever seen her in. _Hell yeah, definitely a new turn-on. Danny like! _He gaped for a few minutes, and finally managed to croak out, "I fucking love Christmas."

She sauntered over to him and climbed onto the bed. "Glad to hear it," she purred. "Now let me unwrap my last present." She tugged off his pants and boxers. "Now Danny, have you been a good little boy?"

He smirked at her. "No, ma'am."

She smirked back. "Ooooh- that's exactly what I wanted to hear." She leaned close, whispering in his ear. "Good boys are no fun."

Danny needed no further encouragement. "Oh, I'm lots of fun," he growled before crashing his lips onto hers. In one fluid motion he flipped her onto her back and scouted out the territory under her skirt. _Hmm, no panties- makes things easier, _he thought as he lowered his mouth to her entrance and licked her. _God I love to hear her moan… _"Merry Christmas, baby," he said right before he proceeded to give her a very merry Christmas indeed.

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A/N: Whoa! Long chapter. Was on a bit of an updating spree for a while there- may take me a few days before the next one is up.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Bon appetit!

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" Montana, I don't understand why you took so long to get ready! I mean, you see all these people everyday…" Danny and Lindsay were in the elevator on the way up to the lab's Holiday Party, which actually took place during the lull between holidays- there's were tons of cases on Christmas and scads on New Year's Eve, but practically none on December 28th. Which made it a good time to 'get drunk and get down,' as Flack put it.

"Danny, I didn't get dressed up for them, I got dressed up for me!" She looked down and shook her hips a little, causing the skirt of her party dress to twirl slightly. "Most women like looking pretty from time to time. And besides, you certainly seem to be enjoying the end result." When she'd first walked out of the bathroom in their apartment, finally finished with her hair and make-up, Danny's jaw had dropped open. She seemed to be good at stunning him in this way and she had to admit it was good for the self-esteem

He gave her a lopsided smile. "Oh, I do. That's quite the outfit you got there, Miss Monroe…" he trailed off as he looked her up and down once more. _Gotta love sleeveless dresses, although I'll never understand how they stay up…and those strappy high heels are HOT! _"But I should tell ya, you always look pretty. So if your goal is to only look pretty 'from time to time' you fail." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, to avoid mussing her lipstick.

It felt weird to get off the elevator because they weren't on the floor that held the lab; much of the building that housed the crime lab consisted of administrative offices that the CSIs never visited. But the lab didn't lend itself to large social gatherings, and the 'pencil pushers' very obligingly had offered their space to the 'lab rats' for tonight. Danny and Lindsay walked down a short hallway before coming to a large lobby/meeting area unlike anything they had downstairs on their floor- there were fancy leather couches, fancy pictures on the wall, and a fancy Christmas tree in the corner. Danny honestly preferred the one they had in their staff room but he had to admit that this was a better spot for a party than Mac's office.

Tonight's party was for everyone who worked in or with the Manhattan Crime Lab. Even people who were working tonight were ordered to take a break and stop by (although they had to pass on the punch, unfortunately). It was the only time of year that everyone got together to socialize and people generally had a good time.

In typical office party fashion, people just stood around in small clusters, chatting. Lindsay caught up with friends she didn't see all the time and Danny kept himself busy enforcing his 'no talking about current cases' rule- he'd brought the buzzer from a 'Taboo' game with him and wandered around pressing the button as soon as he caught anyone talking about work (as usual, Mac got 'buzzed' the most). As the night wore on, the fun atmosphere and the punch had put most people in a party state of mind making Danny's buzzer no longer necessary, leaving him free to mingle.

After a while, he sought out his girlfriend and pulled her onto the improvised dance floor where Adam and Tricia and some other couples already were. To look at them, no one would ever suspect that Danny and Lindsay took (almost) weekly dance lessons and knew lots of flashy moves- in fact, they were barely dancing: Danny had his arms around her waist, she had hers around his neck and they were ever so slightly swaying to the music. They were just staring intently into each others eyes- not talking, just smiling at one another. It was a cute sight, and more than one person snapped a picture of the happy couple. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before they were interrupted.

As per tradition, it wasn't the Holiday Party unless someone made a complete ass of themselves, and this year that award seemed destined for Flack. He'd drunk a lot of punch and someone (most likely Sid) had given him a baseball hat with mistletoe glued to the brim- as a result, he was running around kissing practically every woman present. Fortunately, Hawkes, being the thoughtful and sensible man that he is, had appointed himself as Flack's guardian and was at his friend's side whispering advice as Flack darted around the room: "Taken- cheek only…Also taken….Lesbian, cheek only…Ex-girlfriend-abort!...I don't think she has a boyfriend, go ahead- ok, she's glaring, run away… This one's smiling, I think its safe…" The duo reached Danny and Lindsay and Flack gave Lindsay a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Then he kissed Danny's cheek for good measure and ran towards Stella, where he wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up, and gave her a great big kiss on the mouth…before dropping her and running towards another woman. Stella looked shocked and appalled for a minute, then burst out laughing.

"He's lucky Stella didn't hit him," Danny quipped. Right then, however, a lab tech angrily smacked Don in the face. Flack, being the trooper that he is, was unfazed and kissed the girl the lab tech was talking to. Luckily, the second one just giggled and kissed him back rather thoroughly (much to the annoyance of her friend). Hawkes let out a sigh of relief- it seemed like his job as a chaperone was over and he could get back to the party. But no- Flack just kissed the giggling girl a third time and then was off again, with Sheldon hot on his heels. _It's only a matter of time before he passes out…or runs out of women,_ was Hawke's consolation. He rolled his eyes at Danny and Lindsay and they all laughed.

"Hey, let's take a walk," Danny said, taking her hand and moving away from the dancing couples.

"Is that code for 'let's find a dark corner to make out'?" Lindsay asked.

This produced a grin from Danny. "No, but it could be. I like the way you think, Montana." He led her towards the stairwell where they did spend some time heatedly kissing. When they stopped to breathe, he smiled down at her. "C'mon, I've got something I wanna show ya…"

Lindsay followed him down the flight of stairs. "I'm not even going to start about what that could be code for…Why are we in the lab, Danny?" It was eerily quiet- everyone was upstairs at the party making it the one night of year where the lab was empty at this hour. "It's kind of creepy down here, Messer…What's going on?"

He shushed her and led her towards Trace. "I told you, I wanna show you something. C'mere." He guided her to the table, near a microscope. "Stand right there." He looked at her, cocked his head to the side for a second to think, shook his head, and then moved her a little to the right. "Yeah, that's it. Ok, right now you're standing exactly where you were standing when I fell in love with you." Lindsay gave him a puzzled smile. "I mean, I can be pretty dense and didn't realize it at the time but I've thought about it and I've got it all worked out now. It was last January and I had just come through that door and was standing right there," he pointed. "You had just made a genius breakthrough on your case- like you usually do- and you smiled to yourself. It was one of your big, beautiful smiles and it was the most stunning thing I'd ever seen in my entire life. I remember thinking that I'd give anything, anything for you to smile like that because of me. And boom, I was a goner."

He wrapped his arms around her. "I just thought you'd like to know how I went from having a major crush to loving you." He kissed her, then looked down at her and grinned. "That right there's the smile that did me in. And it still makes me fall further in love with you each time."

Lindsay sighed in his arms. "That's so sweet! You say the most beautiful things, Danny…" She kissed him lightly. "Now I'm really sorry that I'm not sure of the precise instant I fell in love with you."

"Tiger cage," Danny offered.

She laughed and shook her head. "No, you just pissed me off then- though I did think you were kind of hot. It's just things were so weird between us for a long time; I don't know when I went from crush to love. It was a gradual thing, not a sudden switch."

Danny shrugged. "It doesn't matter when it happened, just that it did," he said with a grin. He gave her a quick kiss. "I'm incredibly lucky that you fell in love with me and I thank God every day that you did. But it was inevitable that I'd fall for you- you're frickin' brilliant insanely passionate, and funny as hell…not to mention being a gorgeous, sexy sweetheart. And that smile…You're just so perfect for me. So perfect, period." He kissed her again.

"I am not," Lindsay protested, thinking about her assorted issues.

"Are too," Danny argued. "And since you obviously can't be objective about yourself, you'll just need to take my word on this as a seasoned investigator. I know things: 1) You are perfect. 2) You are perfect for me. 3) We are perfect together. No arguments."

She laughed again. "3) I can definitely agree on. And you forgot 4)- you're perfect for me, Danny."

"Glad you think so," he murmured as he bent to taste her lips again. They both sighed happily when they parted, and he ran his fingers through her hair, staring into her eyes.

"You know, Montana, it feels kinda funny to call you my girlfriend." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "And it's not because I waited so long to be able to do it. It's 'cause it doesn't seem like it explains enough, ya know? You're more than my girlfriend, but 'love of my life' doesn't really flow off the tongue and I don't think it's a socially acceptable title. I can't really use 'partner' 'cause you're literally my partner at work and it'd be confusing. And it'd probably be weird if when we met people I introduced you by going 'This is my soul mate, Lindsay.' …But it seems to me that 'wife' would do the trick just fine." He knelt and pulled out the box from the inside pocket of his jacket. Lindsay let out a little gasp and her hands flew to her mouth. "Lindsay Monroe, I adore you. I always will. Marry me?"

Lindsay was holding back tears now- on top of everything else she'd recognized the ring instantly- and could only manage to nod, but this was enough for Danny. He slid the ring onto her finger and she couldn't help but cry then. Danny stood up and kissed her passionately, then let out a laugh of utter happiness and swung her around. Soon they were both laughing and crying, twirling in circles around the Trace Lab. Finally he stopped swinging her and just held her to him for a long while. He pulled back slightly so he could look at her and took her face in one of his hands, brushing her tears away and caressing her cheek.

"Yes, I'll marry you, Danny Messer. I love you," she said now that she was finally able to speak. She'd just reacted automatically when he'd asked her and hadn't overanalyzed things- she knew in her heart she really did want to marry him and that was enough for her. _Don't make things complicated, Lindsay, _she'd thought._ This is all very simple-you love him. Just say yes. _So she had.

"I love you so much, Montana. I can't frickin' tell you how happy I am that you said yes!"

"Show me, then." And he did, by once again hungrily pressing his lips to hers.

"I hope you don't think it's weird that I asked you here," Danny said when they broke apart. "I mean, I thought about it a lot. But I didn't really want to do it where we met because memories of dismembered bodies didn't seem very romantic. And where we had our first kiss was another crime scene- plus I think they bulldozed that warehouse. It just seemed to me that it should be in the lab because that's the reason we met each other at all, and it's where we got to know one another better, where we became friends, and where I became completely crazy for you. Plus, asking you to marry me in the same spot I fell in love with you seemed kinda right, ya know?"

"It was perfect, Danny," she reassured him. They kissed once more, and then Danny took her left hand in his and just stared at it for a few minutes.

"I asked you to marry me. You said yes. We're gonna get married." With each statement he sounded more and more surprised until his eyes were wide with shock and he couldn't stop shaking his head. "It's just all so crazy- incredible, but crazy."

Lindsay grinned. "I know! _Both of us thought for so long that we'd never get married. _But it's not so crazy, really. We love each other so, so much. And we're good together- made for each other, even. It makes sense that we're going to get married. Besides, people have been expecting it for a while."

Danny nodded. _No need to tell me that, babe…_ "Speaking of people, we should probably head back upstairs to the party to share the good news. Then we can go home and celebrate properly." He smirked at her and pulled her out of the lab towards the stairs.

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Danny had caught Stella's eye as he was leaving with Lindsay earlier and given her a terrified grimace. She of course knew why he was scared so she had mouthed 'good luck' to him and given him the thumbs up. Mac noticed and asked her about her odd behavior. Others had overheard her explanation and as it was a party full of gossips, the news that Danny was proposing had spread fast.

So now everybody was eagerly waiting for them to come back upstairs. Stella had her camera ready and was holding her breath. But as soon as she saw Danny and Lindsay headed down the hallway, she exhaled. They both had such huge smiles and Danny had his arm wrapped around Lindsay. Still, she wanted confirmation.

"Well?!" she cried.

" Montana and me are getting married!" Danny shouted and Lindsay held up her hand to show the ring. Everyone immediately let out a cheer or clapped, and more than one flash went off. The couple was swarmed with well-wishers- it seemed like everyone at the party needed to shake their hands and offer their congratulations. Through it all Danny's hand stayed wrapped around Lindsay's waist, despite the vigorous slaps to the back he was getting.

"Let me see the ring," Stella said. She'd pushed her way through everyone else to give the couple a hug and now she needed to offer her expert opinion on jewelry. "Wow! That's gorgeous!"

"It was my mother's engagement ring, My grandmother's, too. I'd always loved playing with it when I was a little girl." Lindsay explained. Every female standing around Lindsay let out an "Aww" and Stella felt her eyes filling with tears again.

"You two are the cutest couple ever, you know that? Absolutely everything you do is adorable!" Stella exclaimed.

"Nice going, Messer," Flack slurred. "Saved lotsa money on a ring. Smart." This earned a groan from many, and Stella rolled her eyes at the young detective. "What? It's true! Anyway, congrats on getting the balls to ask her. Took you long enough. You're lucky she waited for you to get your ass in gear." Several people nodded their agreement with Flack.

Lindsay made a face and then caught Danny's eye. _People think its Danny's fault that we took so long to get engaged? They've got it completely backwards! _He just smiled down at her and squeezed her waist reassuringly. He gave a little shrug and shook his head slightly, silently telling her he didn't care what people thought about him. _None of that matters now, _ _Montana__. You said yes! _

_------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Eventually, Danny had had enough of the congratulations and wanted to get home to bed. Lindsay was clearly of a like mind. So he decided enough was enough.

"Ok people, we're gonna get going…we, uh, have to call our families! Yeah, Montana's gotta call people in, uh, Montana and I've gotta call my ma."

Mac just gave him one of those ' Taylor looks.' "Right. Of course. Good night you two. Have a good time 'calling your family.'"

"Oh, I think they will!" Sheldon added with a wink.

Danny glared at them and felt his face turn a little red as he looked around to see a roomful of people looking at him with knowing smiles. But then he just grinned and shrugged. _Who cares! I'm a lucky, lucky man and proud of it. _"C'mon, Linds, let's get outta here." She smiled and nodded eagerly, which made the crowd chuckle, and they hurried towards the elevator.

He hailed them a cab, and once they were safely inside he pulled out his cell phone. "I guess we really oughta call folks- then we don't have to do it later on." He winked at her, and quickly dialed his mother. Lindsay did the same thing. They had practically identical, equally short conversations with their mothers and then each rapidly text messaged some of their friends to get the news spreading.

"Well, that was quick," Danny said as the cab stopped in front of their building.

"Good thing, too," Lindsay added. "More time for other stuff." She grinned at him, and he chased her out of the cab into their building. They raced past their doorman, who was more than a little used to this behavior from them. He smiled when he saw Lindsay wave her ring at him.

"Congratulations!" he called. But he knew they hadn't heard him because as the elevator doors were closing they were already attached to each other's face. _Like rabbits, those two… _

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Danny knew that tonight was not a night for frantic fucking on the couch- tonight should be sweet and romantic. _Must…get…to…the…bedroom _he chanted to himself as they ran down the hallway to their apartment door. Lindsay wasn't making things easy for him by grabbing his tie and pulling him to the floor as soon as they made it inside the door. Lindsay as a wild and wanton woman was nearly irresistible but he soldiered on. Danny tapped hidden reserves of willpower and managed to gather Lindsay in his arms, stand up, and carry her down the hall to their bedroom.

He placed her gently on the bed, removed her shoes, and then lay down next to her. Before she could do anything, he'd picked up her hand and began a trail of kisses up her arm. Once he reached the top, he caressed her face- first with his hand, then with his lips. After a while, he no longer had to fight the need to jump her. The mood had shifted. He still wanted her, obviously, but first he wanted to lavish affection on his fiancée. _Shit that's awesome- _ _Montana__'s my fiancée! _

Lindsay was initially surprised that Danny hadn't taken her on the floor inside their front door- after all, he'd done it before. But the moment he swept her up in his arms, she realized that he wanted to be tender and loving tonight and she completely understood why. So she simply laid back and enjoyed his doting. Danny slowly removed her clothes then gently kissed practically ever inch of her skin, murmuring sweet nothings to her all the while. He rubbed her feet for a while, something that Lindsay had never considered foreplay before she'd felt Danny's magic fingers. Those magic fingers eventually drifted up but he didn't tease her, not tonight. He made sure she was aroused (which was wholly unnecessary, not that she complained) but he didn't put her through the slow torture he sometimes did in order to hear her plead. Instead, he quickly shed his own clothes and proceeded to slowly and adoringly make love to the woman of his dreams. The woman who had agreed to be his wife.

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Lindsay was curled up against Danny, her head resting on his naked chest. His hand was stroking her hair softly.

"You said yes," Danny whispered.

Lindsay tried to identify the emotion in his voice. Shock? Relief? Joy? Wonder? _Probably a little bit of each. _"I know I did." She tilted her head up so she could look him in the face. "I should have said yes a long time ago." Danny started to talk but she held her hand to his mouth to quiet him. "I really regret that it took us so long to get together- I feel like we wasted all this time. I'm sorry."

"Why? I'm not." Lindsay lifted her head up and furrowed her brow at him in confusion. "I'm serious- I'm happy that things worked out the way they did. It's much better this way, honest." Lindsay still looked confused, so he struggled to explain. "Ok, imagine what would have happened if we'd hooked up when you first got here- back then we both sorta thought of each other as attractive but annoying. Then it would have been nothing but meaningless sex, 'not-quite-friends with benefits' if you will. Afterwards, it would have been really awkward to work together. And even if we acted like professionals, I doubt we'd have ever have become close and then I'd be without one of my best friends. Scenario 2- you actually show up on that date after the jewelry store case and we start dating then. You weren't ready to be in a relationship yet and that would have made things complicated and messy. We'd most likely be one of those couples where one person is completely in love with the other but the other person is can't-or won't- love the first person back: I've unfortunately been in one of them before _although I was the won't _and they're frickin' tragic, Montana. We'd have never have worked out that way and I for one know I'd be a completely heartbroken mess if that'd happened, and I doubt it would have helped you deal with your issues. You had major shit to deal with back then, it wasn't the time for you to be dating anybody."

He took her hand in hers and kissed it. "No, this way is best. I'm completely content with the fact that I had to wait for you because this way I got all of you. I wasn't interested in just your body, Linds, I wanted the package deal. This way I get this" he tapped her forehead with his other hand "and this" he placed his hand over her heart "as well as that smokin' bod of yours. And you're ready for this." He moved the hand that held hers to over his own heart. "I know that what happened to you before makes you worry about 'wasting time' but you've got to understand- that time wasn't wasted. That was time well spent in getting us to the point we're at right now. You get what I'm sayin'?"

Lindsay nodded, her eyes glistening somewhat.

"Listen, Montana, I know and you know that I can't promise that we're going to grow old together but I can promise that I'm going to be devoted to you until the day I die- which hopefully won't be for a long, long time. But I'm sure hoping we get to spend the rest of our lives together, future Mrs. Messer. Or Mrs. Monroe-Messer. Or Ms. Monroe. It's up to you." He winked.

She smiled. He'd done it again- told her exactly what she needed to hear and then managed to lighten the mood. "Thanks, Danny. You always know how to make me feel better." She sighed and snuggled closer.

"Hmm, that's true. You know what I also know how to do? I know how to make you feel good."

"Do you really? I think I'm going to need to see some evidence..."

"Evidence? I'll show you evidence, Montana…" he growled at her before presenting a very strong (albeit entirely physical) case in support of his statement.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long- wanted to get it just right. Not sure still if I did but I was imagining simple and sweet (as opposed to trained tigers!) Hope you enjoyed- let me know what you think, if you want.

More fun to come, but not sure when it'll be up. Sooner rather than later, I hope.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Sorry been such a long time...writer's block! I've got some chapters already finished but the ones in between are the ones that are giving me trouble. These two are mostly plot filler- sorry!

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"Food's in the conference room, people," Mac said as he everyone towards the door. He'd wanted to take everybody out to lunch to celebrate the engagement but after a week of fiddling with schedules and trying to make it happen, he finally threw in the towel and ordered take-out.

"Mac, you really didn't have to do this," Lindsay protested as everybody helped themselves to as much Chinese and Italian as their plates would hold.

"Yes, he did," Stella stated. "We miss enough meals because of this guy, it's the least he can do." She poked him in the side with her plastic fork. "Plus this is a special occasion."

"Amen to that," Hawkes chimed. Once everyone was seated and busy stuffing themselves, he turned to Lindsay. "So how long before there are little Dannys running around causing havoc? Mac'll need to give a heads up to the Office of Homeland Security so they can prepare." Danny threw a packet of duck sauce at Sheldon, hitting him in the face.

"We've talked about it," Lindsay answered. "And it's not going to be right away. Kids are really expensive, so we're going to save our money for a while. That way we can both work less hours, hopefully."

"Yeah, we'd like to be able to actually spend time with the squirts, ya know?" Danny added. "Montana has a budget-thingy for the next coupla years. Gives us a nice little cushion to work with."

"A real nest egg!" Flack said, tapping out a rim shot on the table. Everybody groaned.

"Don't wait too long," Mac said sadly, thinking about Claire and the children they never got to have.

"Eh, we won't Mac," Danny said. "We're thinking three years right now. After all, I'm getting old."

It was Stella's turn to throw duck sauce. "Watch it Messer, I'm older than you!" she said laughingly.

"As am I!" Peyton said, hitting Danny in the chest with soy sauce.

"You're both certainly acting mature," Mac pointed out, which resulted in him getting pelted by a flurry of sauce packets.

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"So short engagement? Long engagement? Never actually getting married, just engaged forever?" Sid asked later on during lunch.

"Short," Danny answered with a smile.

"Making up for lost time, eh Messer?" Flack asked. "Just think: if you'd have asked her out a year ago you could be married by now." He shook his head and scowled at his friend, indicating his disappointment with Danny's failure to act.

"He did," Lindsay said.

"He did what?" Flack asked, confused.

"He did ask me out a year ago. Last fall, actually,"

"WHAT? Danny, you never told me!" Stella exclaimed.

"Because I stood him up," Lindsay said with a blush. She cut off Flack and Stella before they could ask any questions. "It's not fair that you guys keep picking on Danny- it's not his fault that it took us so long to get together. It's also not his fault that we weren't engaged any earlier. It's me." She saw Danny looking at her, a concerned frown on his face. "It's alright, Danny. It's time for me to stop keeping secrets from everybody." She proceeded to tell her friends about Tom and his tragic demise.

"…So needless to say, I was pretty traumatized. I blamed myself, and when Tom's parents first found out, his mother blamed me too. _If my son had never met you he'd still be alive! He wouldn't have been in that store buying a ring!_ She didn't mean it of course- she was insane with grief and she apologized as soon as she calmed down. But I couldn't let go of what she said or how she was when she said it, and it's why I don't deal well with mothers. Anyway, instead of grieving properly and then moving on, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Ruminating, I think they call it- it's when you're fixated on thinking the same bad thoughts over and over. I ended up being depressed for years. But I didn't talk to anyone or get pills or anything- you all know how stubborn I can be, too proud to ask for help… I know that people have had worse tragedies in their life and moved on. I don't know what my problem was- I just was unwilling to let go. Until Danny," she said as she squeezed his hand under the table.

"So that's my big bad secret," Lindsay continued. "My point in telling you all of this is to let you know that I pushed him away because I had a truckload of issues to deal with, I was the one who wasn't ready for a relationship, and I was the one who thought they weren't ready for marriage. Danny's actually been the mature, stable one in this relationship. So he doesn't deserve all your comments." She glanced at Flack, who was red from embarrassment.

Stella leaned across the table and hugged her. "Oh you poor, poor thing," she said. Lindsay inwardly cringed. _Stella's feeling sorry for me? Stella, who had to put down her deranged boyfriend like he was a rabid dog? How come I can't be as strong as her?_

Flack cleared his throat awkwardly and clapped Danny on the shoulder. "Sorry, man, I guess I'm just so used to assuming the worst from you…I figured it had to be you. My bad."

Danny just laughed. "It's ok, bud. You know how good I am at fucking things up- it was a safe assumption that I was fucking things up between me and Linds."

"New topic! The wedding- what are you thinking?" Stella asked excitedly.

Danny and Lindsay glanced at each other then shrugged. They hadn't had much opportunity to talk about it yet, other than to confirm that they both in fact had no real opinions or plans.

"Eh, probably something small. We're trying to save money, remember," Danny said. "But we're not really sure about anything."

Stella's face fell at the word 'small.' "Are you thinking that way just because of cost?"

"Well, mostly. And because neither of us are frou-frou, over-the-top, Princess Di-level wedding people," Lindsay told her.

"Really, Danny? I've been reading you wrong for years," Hawkes joked.

"You can have a simple wedding that doesn't cost too much AND still have it be a big party," Stella informed them. "C'mon, you two- just hear me out. This is a big deal for you guys- you should make it a special day. And Lindsay, you know your family and friends from back home are dying to see New York, right? What better reason do they need to come east! Plus this lab has had a pretty shitty couple of years. We need something uplifting- we need a big celebration!"

The couple in question still looked unsure. "Stella, I don't know…" Lindsay said. "Yeah it'd be fun to have a big reception with our friends and family and everything but we don't know anything about planning something like that."

"I do! Let me do it!" Stella was giddy with excitement.

"Stell, we can't ask you do that for us…" Danny began.

"You aren't asking, I'm volunteering. I love weddings and I love throwing parties," she reassured them. "Plus, it gives me practice for my own wedding someday."

"Stella, darling, I'd always imagined we'd just run off to Vegas together," Sid quipped with a wink.

"What have I told you about flirting with me, Hammerback?" Stella said with a laugh.

She looked at her friends, who still looked doubtful. "Lindsay, I can tell what you're thinking- you're having visions of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' aren't you?" Lindsay bit her lip and nodded. "I promise: if you want simple, it'll be simple. Nothing frou-frou. And not a single Greek flag anywhere."

Danny and Lindsay looked at each other for a minute, wordless debating what they wanted. They both ended up shrugging at each other again. "Just one problem, Stell, we really can't afford anything big and fancy," Danny reminded her.

"My brother is a DJ," Adam volunteered. "I'm sure he'd work for no charge if I asked him. Which I would. 'Cause, you know, I, um, owe you a favor, Danny…"

Mac got up and walked away with his phone to his ear. As this was standard operating procedure for Mac, the conversation continued without him.

"My aunt is a florist," said Flack. "I'll get you the family discount."

"Dave down in AV does wedding pictures to pick up some extra cash. He'd definitely be cheap, if not free," Hawkes informed them.

"And I've still got my contacts in the restaurant world. I'm sure I can get you guys some decent catering that won't cost the earth," Sid offered.

The team brainstormed for a few minutes about other wedding needs, like tuxes and limos. "So then the most expensive thing we're talking about is the venue," Stella said.

"I've got that covered," Mac said he hung up and sat back down. "An old friend of mine went into the hotel business with his daughter when he retired from the Corps. They just renovated this old place downtown- says it has a nice banquet hall. They won't open until March, so their schedule is clear. And he says he'll give you 60 percent off the rental fee because you'll be their first wedding. _And because I saved his life back in Lebanon._ Plus he'll knock a bit off room rentals for anyone you have flying in. All he wants is some word-of-mouth advertising afterwards."

Lindsay and Danny were stunned. "You guys are so awesome!" she exclaimed.

Hawkes laughed. "Excepting the marvelous Stella, we didn't actually commit to do anything. We all volunteered someone else's services."

"Still, we appreciate it. Although knowing you guys, you're probably just helping us out so you have a big fiesta to go to," Danny joked.

"Right as always," Flack said. "That Owen Wilson movie wasn't a joke-weddings are a great place to pick up women." This time everybody threw sauce packets at him.

----------------------------------------------------

Later that afternoon, Lindsay was attempting to lift prints from a plastic shopping bag when her phone rang.

"Monroe."

"We're coming to New York!" shouted a bunch of women.

"What?"

"We're coming to New York." Lindsay could recognize Rachel's voice now, but just barely. _They must be on speakerphone. _

"What? Why?" Lindsay asked again, still confused. She was in work mode, and not mentally prepared to talk to The Girls.

"What do you mean, 'why?' You're marrying this guy and we barely know him! Plus, we all know that when we come out for your wedding you're going to be too swamped to show us around and you promised us a tour!" This time it sounded like Shelby.

"That's right, I did. It's great you're coming- I'm thrilled! You just surprised me, that's all…"

"That was kinda the point, Lin." _That's definitely Megan, wise-ass that she is._

"Well you did. Congrats. So, are all of you coming?"

"Of course we are!" Rachel shrieked. "We all need to get to know Danny better before we let you marry him and we all need to go to Macy's. Besides, none of us have had a real vacation in years. We got a really sweet deal on the internet for one of those fancy hotels- we're going all out!"

"And Kirsten did some research," Megan continued. "The FBI says that the slowest month crime-wise is February. But we still know that you'll be busy doing gross CSI stuff- we just want at least one night to take you to a play and get you drunk."

"First week in February, chica. Get ready to rock!" Shelby shouted.

"Ok, I'll try and clear my schedule. I can swap shifts with people." Lindsay assured them.

"Tell Detective Studmuffin to take a night off, too. We're coming out to spend time with him too, after all." Marie reminded her. "And oh, is that hot cop still single?"

Lindsay laughed. _Marie's one-track mind… _"Far as I know, yeah he is."

"Good," Marie sighed. "Can't wait for this trip, Lin."

"Gee, I wonder why?" cracked Kirsten.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing you girls! I've missed you." Lindsay cried out.

"We know- that's why we're coming!" Megan said sassily.

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Stella poked her head into the locker room at the end of the day. "So we'll meet for dinner sometime this week and discuss wedding stuff, right?"

Lindsay hurried over to her friend to give her a big hug. "Oh Stella, this is so great that you're doing this. I was against getting married for so many years that I didn't even know where to begin planning a wedding. And neither of us knew what we wanted anway. You've already been such a big help."

"That's what friends are for, Linds," Stella said with a laugh.

"You realize, of course, that you're Maid of Honor. And not just because you're planning everything. I would have asked you regardless."

"Aww, kiddo, I'm touched! Thank you!" This time it was Stella giving the giant hug. "And I promise that you won't regret not having a small wedding- you both are so great, you deserve something big and wonderful. But not too big," she reassured Lindsay. "No 20-foot train on your dress or arriving in a horse-drawn carriage, I swear."

"Besides," Stella added with a twinkle in her eye. "I'm saving that for my wedding."

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	31. Chapter 31

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Lindsay was hard at work writing up reports in her office one afternoon when she heard a voice coming from the hallway.

"Holy FUCK! Look at all this glass! This place is made entirely out of goddamned windows! How many gallons of Windex do you think these fuckers go through a year?"

Lindsay grinned. _I'd know that loud mouth anywhere! _"Shelby!" she cried out and ran to meet her friends. "Rachel! Kirsten! Megan! Marie!" After each yelped name she gave a big bear hug. "What are you guys doing here? You're early! And how did you get here- I was going to pick you up from the airport!"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Lin, it's called a cab. You have a lot of them in this city I hear. And we couldn't let you take time off from being voice-to-the-voiceless, crime-stopper-extraordinaire that you are just to shuttle us around."

"It's so good to see you! And I can't believe I'm in New York City!" Kirsten squealed.

"We've already checked in and we're headed back there in a little bit to get pampered in the salon they've got in the hotel, but we needed to come see you before we did anything vacation-y! Do you have a second to show us around?" Megan asked.

"Sure. What do you guys want to see- the morgue? The Ballistics Lab? The Mass SPEC machine?"

"As appealing as all that sounds…let's just have a look-see around this floor and you can introduce us to people," Kirsten suggested.

Lindsay spotted one of her coworkers headed towards her, his face buried in a lab report. "Hawkes!" She waved him over as soon as he looked up and he smiled when he saw she had company.

"Lindsay, are these your friends from Big Sky Country?" She nodded. "I'm Sheldon, and it's a pleasure to meet such a lovely group of women. But unfortunately I can't stay to chat- I just had a big breakthrough in my case and catching killers must take precedence over making new friends." He pouted.

Rachel chuckled. "We forgive you, but only if you catch the guy!"

"I promise," he stated solemnly, placing a hand over his heart. "I'll catch you later, ladies. Drinks at Sullivan's tomorrow, right?"

"Right," Lindsay confirmed, and Hawkes hurried off. She turned to her friends. "Remember? I told you he was ridiculously nice."

"We didn't doubt you," Kirsten assured her. "Ok, Lin, start with the tour!"

She showed them her office, pointed out the different labs (they oohed and ahhed over the fancy-looking machines but wouldn't let her explain what any of them did) and introducing them to various people. Mac waved to them from his office, but as he was on the phone they didn't get a chance to talk to him.

Stella they caught in the break room. "Girls, this is Stella. Stella, these are my girls."

"I've heard so much about you all. You have big shoes to fill, people!" she said as she hugged them each.

"Hush," Marie said with a smile. "You're doing great- none of us volunteered to plan Lin's wedding. In fact, we refuse to even be in it!" Her friends all laughed while Stella looked puzzled.

"When we were 15, we made a solemn vow that we'd never ask each other to be bridesmaids," Megan explained. "Because we couldn't just ask one friend, we'd have to ask all five. And then we'd have to have these big weddings that none of us were ever interested in. Plus, we'd probably end up with 4 or 5 expensive dresses we'd never wear again."

"We also promised to throw each other kick-ass Bachelorette Parties, though," Rachel told Stella, winking at her and mouthing 'we'll talk.'

"Well, that makes my job easier!" Stella said. "So that means just two bridesmaids, Linds?" she asked. "I'll talk to you later about some ideas I've had- I'm thinking navy blue."

"NYPD chic," Marie noted. "I like it."

"Exactly!" Stella said with a laugh. "Ok ladies, I've reloaded on caffeine, I need to get back to work. I'll see you tomorrow night!" Then it was her turn to hurry off.

"I see now why you've managed to stay so skinny, Lin- you guys don't stop for long, do you?" Kirsten noted.

"Crime doesn't stop, and neither do we," Lindsay said in a somber voice before cracking up. "This is not good-I can't be serious when you guys are around!" They wandered back to Lindsay's office, only to find Danny sitting at his desk. He grinned when he saw how happy Lindsay was now that her friends were here.

"Detective Studmuffin!" Rachel cried.

"Greetings, Montana women. It's good to see you again." He smiled and shook each of their hands. "I'm looking forward to spending time witcha all- you ready to tear this city up?"

"Hell yeah we are!" exclaimed Shelby. "Although I remember what you said about cocktails costing over $10 out here- so you better find me bars with lots of cute single guys looking to buy me drinks!" she threatened him.

"Eh, we're going to Sullivan's, right Montana?" Lindsay nodded. "It's a cop bar. I can't promise cute, and I can't even promise single, but I guarantee you won't pay for a single one of your drinks. The males of New York's Finest are a bunch of gentlemen." He winked at her.

"Don't you believe that for a second," Lindsay told her friends. "They might buy you drinks, but they certainly aren't gentlemen." Danny pretended to be insulted, then he saw a familiar figure walk past their office door.

"Flack! Get your ass in here!"

"Whaddaya want, Messer? Oh, hello," he smiled as five female heads turned eagerly to see him.

"Flack, these are some friends from Montana. They're visiting for the week," Lindsay told him.

Marie stepped towards him so that she was standing very close. "You are coming out to get a drink with us tomorrow, right?" she purred.

He gulped. "Uh, yeah, yeah, I'll be there. Um, I'm Don, by the way."

"I know. I've heard about you." She blatantly looked him over. "Though seeing you is better. And I'm Marie."

"Nice to meetcha, Marie."

"Oh, you have no idea," she assured him with a wink.

Danny chuckled. Lindsay had told him that her friend would no doubt hit on Flack and they'd decided against warning him, figuring it would be much more entertaining this way. Lindsay had assured Danny that Flack would meet his match in Marie and he saw now that she was right: Flack had a stunned-bunny look on his face as he stared at Lindsay's friend.

"Ok, we've kept you from your work long enough Lin," Rachel stated. "We're off to get mani-pedis. Are you going to be free for dinner?" When Lindsay grimaced and shook her head, Rachel waved her hand dismissively. "No, no, it's not a big deal. We knew when we came out here that we wouldn't be glued to your hip. We're big girls, we'll be fine. Call us if you're free tonight, if not, we'll check in tomorrow."

"What do you have planned for tomorrow?" Danny asked.

Megan's face lit up. "We're going to the MoMA and the Met!"

"Sounds good. Leave the next morning free, 'cause I understand Montana promised you all that I'd give you a tour and I can't let her break a promise," he said with a grin.

"You're on! Ok, we're out of here. Later, Lin. Ciao, Detective Studmuffin," Shelby called as they headed towards the elevator.

Flack turned to Danny with a big grin as soon as he heard Shelby's nickname for Danny.

Danny just shook his head and groaned. "Don't even ask, buddy…"

-------------------------------------------------

The girls (plus Danny) all met for dinner and Sullivan's was packed when they got there. Danny glanced around the bar, then did a double take.

"Marty Pino! Long time no see! What brings you here tonight?" Pino worked a different shift these days and so they never had cases together anymore.

"A little birdie told me that there's 'Montanas' to spare this week. Your girl is cute; I figured her friends would be too. I feel it's my duty to check these things out, play welcome wagon if possible." He elbowed Danny in the ribs.

Danny scowled at the ME. _I forgot what a piece of work this guy is… _He turned to see how Lindsay's friends were doing and sure enough, they were surrounded by guys. Danny knew he didn't really need to worry about somebody slipping something into their drinks in this place, but he was still happy to see they'd found Hawkes and that he was getting them their first round

"Two of 'em are married," Danny informed Marty.

Marty clasped his hand to his heart dramatically. "Don't tell me that, Messer. Bad news I do not want to hear tonight. Please tell me that black-haired one is single."

"Yeah, but I think she's already claimed somebody," Danny noted with a laugh as Marie sat down on Flack's lap with no warning, much to the detective's delight.

"Well, shit. Tonight might be a bust. Because the blonde doesn't look like the kind who'd be impressed by my Porsche."

"Nope," Danny agreed. He didn't know Kirsten that well, but he doubted very much that Marty would have much success there. "Try your luck with the red-head, though," he added, because he'd promised Shelby to steer single guys her way. _It also might be kinda fun to watch Pino try and pick her up. He he he…_

_---------------------------------------_

"So what do you ladies do?" Hawkes asked as they all sat around a booth.

"Art teacher, math teacher," Shelby pointed to Megan and Rachel, "Attorney," she indicated Marie, "Doctor," pointing to Kirsten, "Rancher," pointing to herself.

"What kind of doctor?" Hawkes leaned forward eagerly towards Kirsten.

She laughed. "I'm one of two doctors in a small town- we don't have time for fancy-pants specialists. So I'm general practice. Plus the coroner when the need arises." Sheldon's eyes lit up and they were quickly discussing interesting cases.

Danny leaned over to whisper in Lindsay's ear. "Only Hawkes flirts by talking about stiffs and sick people."

Lindsay laughed. "Hawkes and Kirsten," she whispered back.

While the two doctors swapped stories, the rest of the Montana girls told embarrassing stories about Lindsay. Finally, Lindsay decided she needed to defend herself. She stomped over to the jukebox, put in some money, and waited. Soon some old-school country western was blaring, probably for the first time ever at this bar. And as she expected, her friends all jumped up. People did not dance at Sullivan's; cops generally went there when they went off-duty to drink to take their minds off their gruesome jobs. But Lindsay didn't care- she needed to shut her friends up and this was the best way to do it. So for a short period of time one night, Sullivan's featured both country music and dancing, to the amazement of all present.

As Danny had predicted, Shelby ended up being more than Marty could handle, though Danny had to admire the way the guy did not give up. She'd made fun of his car, announced to the bar that she could hog-tie him with one arm held behind her back, and then insulted the Giants. But he kept coming back for more. _I had no idea that Pino was such a masochist, _Danny thought.

Flack and Marie, meanwhile, kept flirting outrageously with one another. Marie managed to keep Flack on his toes with innuendos that shocked even the him. When she'd gone to the restroom at one point, Flack had hurried over to Lindsay and clapped her on the back.

"Bless you, Monroe. Thank you for bringing her here! You ever need a kidney, I'm your guy."

Generally, when the CSIs went out after work they didn't stay long. After all, they were usually exhausted. But tonight, they all stayed until last call- even Mac. Lindsay's friends had gotten along fabulously with all of her coworkers, and everyone had had a great night.

"Ok, you wild western women," Danny said as the out-of-towners piled into two cabs. "You're headed to the hotel and then you're gonna drink a lot of water and go to bed, ok? Because tomorrow I'm showing you around New York and I don't want to hear any bitchin' about being tired or hung-over. And wear comfortable shoes, for pete's sake," he added, thinking about the pointy-toed high-heeled boots they'd all sported.

"Yes, Daaaad," Megan muttered. "Oh god, I sound like Jeffy." Jeffy was her four-year old son. "Get me home now."

"So can I call you sometime this week?" Marty eagerly asked Shelby before she got into the taxi. Danny laughed to himself. _Keep fightin', tiger. Don't give up yet._

Shelby just rolled her eyes and then squinted thoughtfully at him. "Maybe. You're kinda scrawny. Still, you're cute. And you're kinda an ass, but one with a nice ass… Yeah, go ahead and call. I might call back. Might." This made Pino grin like a kid on Christmas, and Danny laughed out loud.

_Montana girls sure know how to knock 'em dead, _he thought with a chuckle as he looked at his friends who were all watching the cabs pull away. Pino was grinning stupidly, Flack was nearly drooling, and even Hawkes had a happy half-smile. He looked down at his own Montana girl and grinned. _Yup, they know how to drive a guy crazy._

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As promised, the next morning Danny and Lindsay met The Girls at their hotel. And to his delight, none of them complained about the early hour after their late night.

"Please," Rachel scoffed. "We're country girls. Most of us grew up on farms. AND we can hold our alcohol. So bring it, city boy."

He did. They hit just about everything a walking tour of Manhattan needs to see- the major buildings, the waterfront, the Financial District, Chinatown and Little Italy (which truly is little now that Chinatown has spread), etc., as well as lots of fun places that only a native would know about. By noon, Danny had led them to Central Park and there he treated them all to some fully-loaded hot dogs.

"Ok, wild women. Me and Montana have gotta get back to work. Frolic in the park, have a good time. Get outta here by nightfall, alright?"

"Thanks, Danny," Rachel said. "You're a good guy. Not good enough for Lin, mind, but a good guy nonetheless."

"I don't think there's anybody good enough for Montana. I'm just glad she settled for me."

"That's enough. Shut up," Lindsay said jokingly. She still found it very uncomfortable that Danny thought she was settling for him when she still thought of him as out of her league. "I'll see you girls later. You have my address?" They were doing a girl's night in as soon as Lindsay finished for the day. "C'mon, Danny."

"Hold up a sec, Montana. Here," he said as handed a piece of paper to Kirsten. "I saw that you all had a bunch of guide books," he said with snort. "Here's the places you should definitely check out that we didn't get to this morning and the best times to go, in my experience. Alright, bye ladies"

"They like you," Lindsay informed him as they walked back to the lab.

"I'm glad. But how can you tell? They made fun of me all morning."

"That's how I know. They've made fun of me for over 20 years. And I know they like me." And as if to prove her point, Lindsay's phone chirped. She showed Danny the text message she'd received from Megan: 'Ok- you can marry him.'

"That's a relief! Here I was spending all that time worrying about whether your parents would be ok with me when I really needed to be worrying about your friends."

"Damn straight. You know, considering your former reputation as ladies' man, you really don't know much about women, do you?"

"Guess not, but you love me this way. This way you can be all bossy-teacher with me." She crinkled her nose and glared at him. "Which is totally hot, by the way."

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The week flew by and Lindsay got to spend a surprising amount of time with her friends. Kirsten's research was accurate- it was a slow time of year. Her and Danny only had two cases all week and they were both fairly straightforward, which meant that Lindsay was able to accompany her friends to see "A Chorus Line" and stay through the entire performance.

When Lindsay informed Danny that Shelby, Kirsten, and Marie all had dates with their law enforcement suitors on the same night, he decided that Rachel and Megan shouldn't be left out. So he had them get dressed up, bought them flowers, and took Lindsay and her two married friends out to dinner at a fancy restaurant.

"This way you can say you went on a date with a dashing detective, too," he said with wink as he pulled out their chairs for them all. "And also, you can say that said dashing detective had his fiancée with him so your husbands don't feel the need to kick my ass."

Dinner was wonderful and afterwards he took them all to the same club he brought Lindsay on their first date.

"This is great, Danny!" Megan said after he twirled her around the dance floor. "I can't remember the last time my husband took me out dancing."

"Are you kidding?" Rachel asked. "I can't remember the last time mine took me to a restaurant that had real napkins."

"Girls, you both married big burly cowboys. What did you expect?" Lindsay asked them teasingly. "There's perks to dating a city boy," she told them as Danny pulled her out of her seat to dance.

Although it turned out not all city boys are created equal, as they found out the next morning over breakfast. Lindsay was only on call that morning and borrowed a car so that they could drive to the end of Long Island to see the ocean and fancy houses.

"You got flowers!? Not fair!" Shelby complained to Rachel and Megan. "It wasn't even a real date because he wasn't even trying to get in your pants!"

"I should hope not!" Lindsay quipped. "In Marty's defense, he probably thought you weren't a flowers kind of girl. Where did he take you, anyway?"

"Some hole-in-the-wall pizza place and then a pool hall." Lindsay was surprised- from what she'd heard about Pino through the office grapevine this was not normal. But the grin on Shelby's face suggested he'd chosen wisely. "If I have any time before heading back, he knows a place that has laser tag. I'm gonna kick his scrawny little, Giants-loving ass."

"And how was the great Detective Flack?" Megan asked Marie. "He didn't get you flowers either?"

Marie shook her head. "No, just dinner, and when I suggested we go dancing he was very against the idea. Until I told him that salsa dancing counted as foreplay." She winked at her friends, who all rolled their eyes at her.

"You are so easy, Marie," Rachel chided her friend, tossing a tater tot at her.

Marie deflected both the potato and the insult with a wave of her hand. "Hey! I'm not easy...I'm just less hard. There's an important difference. Anyway, Kirsten here got flowers from her NYPD boy-toy."

"Sheldon is very nice," was all Kirsten would say, though she was smiling and grinning. They didn't press her for details; her friends were just happy that she got to go on a date with a pleasant, intelligent man after the string of losers she'd seen back in Montana.

"I had no idea my friends were such heartbreakers," Megan joked. "New York is going to be sorry to see us go. Well, three New Yorkers anyway."

"Hey, you'll be back in a few months for the wedding," Lindsay reminded them. "And I'll bet you $50 that Flack flies out to Montana for his vacation. He's smitten," she told her friend. Marie just smiled smugly and buffed her nails against her shirt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

They had a great time gawking at the mansions and admiring the Atlantic Ocean, but on the way back Lindsay got called into work.

"Stella, I'm about 30 minutes away still. I'll get there as soon as I can."

"That's fine- I'll finish up processing the scene, you just get to the lab when you can."

"Don't worry about dropping us off, Lin," Rachel told her. "Just drive to the lab- we can catch a cab from there."

When they pulled into the parking garage, Megan turned to Kirsten. "Do you want us to stop in and see if the good doctor has a moment to say hi?" Kirsten blushed, but nodded.

They all piled into the elevator. Lindsay went to quickly change into her lab coat and saw Adam in the locker room.

"Have you see Stella by any chance?" she asked. _Maybe she's back from the crime scene already..._

"Um, yeah, she was just headed into the break room. Said something about needing a ton of coffee."

Lindsay hurried out of the locker room and headed towards the break room. _Where did they all get to? _she wondered about her friends. _Maybe they saw Hawkes already. _That's when she realized there was a group of people in the break room. _What's going on?_

"Surprise!" they yelled when she walked through the door. Lindsay noticed that all her female friends from the lab were present. Her brow furrowed in confusion

"It's your bridal shower, Lin," Rachel told her. And as Lindsay looked around, she noticed the wedding bells decorations and white streamers. She turned to Stella.

"So there's no case?"

"Nope," the older woman laughed. "Just needed to get you back here. Ok, let's eat! We're all on our lunch break so no time for stupid shower games. I get the feeling that you weren't interested in them anyway."

They all sat around eating sandwiches and cake and asking Lindsay about the wedding.

"Do you have your dress yet?" a tech named Susan asked. Lindsay just shrugged and turned to Stella.

"Oh, no way am I picking out your wedding dress for you," Stella told her. "That's too personal. But I will take you to a place where you can get one for $100. Next Tuesday good?" Lindsay nodded.

"So what are you doing for your honeymoon?" Tricia asked her.

"My whole family chipped in to get us a trip to the South of France and Italy. We'll take the train and visit a bunch of places," Lindsay answered.

"Oooh where?" Stella asked.

"Let me think… Nice, Monaco, Florence, Venice, and Rome. We'll be there for 2 weeks and we're going to try and see as much as possible. Neither of us have ever been."

"Danny must be excited about Italy," Tricia noted.

Lindsay nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah. Not so much about France, but I've always wanted to see the Cote d'Azur. I went to Paris in high school and loved it."

"Do you speak French?" Susan asked.

She laughed. "Very badly. And Danny only speaks a little Italian- he know how to insult or hit on somebody, and he can order food. We're both trying to brush up a little before we leave."

"That's some gift. You're lucky to have such a great family," Stella noted.

"Speaking of gifts, why haven't you two registered anywhere?" Tricia asked. "You're making things very difficult for us."

"We don't want anything!" Lindsay protested. "We've got plates and a blender already. We just want our friends to come- they don't need to get us anything."

"You could register for a charity and instead of presents, people can make donations in your name," Megan suggested. Lindsay's eyes lit up.

"That's a great idea," she cried. "I'll mention it to Danny tonight, see what he thinks."

"Let me know ASAP, kiddo, because I'll put it on the invitations. Which are going out soon, by the way," Stella told her.

"Stella, thank you for doing this for Lin. Even as a kid, I always knew that she had the potential to become a Bridezilla," Shelby joked. Everyone laughed, thinking about how thoroughly and meticulously Lindsay did everything. "And you've spared us from that. Well done."

"I live to serve," Stella said with a smile. "And if by serving I get to shop and pick out flowers and plan a big party, I'm one happy camper!"

--------------------------------------------------------

Sometime later, Flack stuck his head into the room. "Hey, you ladies gonna give us back our break room? Or is your chick party not done yet?"

Stella rolled her eyes at the detective. "This isn't your break room, Don. You don't actually work on this floor."

"Hey, emotionally, this lab is my second home!" he protested.

"You're just here for a piece of cake, aren't you?" Lindsay asked.

His eyes lit up and he grinned. "Cake? There's cake?"

"I got something sweet for you right here, detective," Marie told him as she broke away from the group of techs she was talking to.

His grin broadened. "Never mind, I don't need cake." He took Marie's hand and pulled her out of the room.

"They're off to make out in the locker room, no doubt," Danny informed everyone as he entered the room. "Now, somebody said something about cake?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days later, Danny and Lindsay were in the lobby of their friends' hotel, saying goodbye before heading to work. The cabs were coming to take The Girls to the airport later that morning.

"I can't believe you have to leave already. It was so good having you here!" Lindsay said as she gave each of her friends a hug.

"I'm glad you said that, Lin, because this was our wedding present to you. We can't afford to get you anything now," Shelby said teasingly.

"That's fine! I can't think of anything I could have wanted more than you visiting me. You'll have to do it again sometime, ok? Other than the wedding." Lindsay begged them.

"Absolutely, doll," Rachel assured her. "Maybe we'll even bring our husbands."

"And Shelby was lying about not having a present for you. We did get you something and we're going to give it to you now so you can prepare for your honeymoon," Marie said with a wink. Lindsay's eyes widened and Danny's ears perked up. To Lindsay's relief, Marie gave her an envelope.

Inside there was a gift certificate to a lingerie boutique downtown and 100 Euro. "Buy yourselves a nice souvenir," Kirsten ordered them.

"Maybe you should just shop for your wedding night," Rachel suggested. "If you're too sexy, Lin, you two might never leave your hotel room and you really ought to get out and see Europe while you're there." Lindsay blushed and Danny smiled.

"Oh, that's gonna be a problem whether she picks up anything from that store or not," Danny assured them with a devilish grin. They all laughed.

"Now, Detective Studmuffin," Shelby told him sternly. "We're going to let you marry our friend but only if you promise to take good care of her. Because if you hurt her, we'll hurt you. I'm a real good shot," she informed him.

"Leave him alone Shelb," Kirsten protested. "Thank you Danny, you've been a real sweetheart. I see why Lin is marrying you."

"And it isn't just this cute face," Megan quipped, pinching his cheeks.

"Yeah, you're a nice guy Danny. Not my type at all but good for Lin," Marie joked.

"You're a doll, she's a doll, you'll have tiny doll babies, it's too perfect," Rachel said.

He found himself getting hugged by all five friends, who then all grabbed Lindsay.

"We'll see you soon, Lin," Kirsten said.

"Yeah, just a couple of months before your Bachelorette Party! Yee haw!" Shelby cried. "Oh, and I guess your wedding, too."

And with a final round of hugs and "goodbyes!" they were gone.

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A/N2: Sorry there wasn't that much DL- there'll be smuff most likely in the next chapter, which should be up soon. Hang in there!


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: Coming close to the end now- I'm stopping shortly after the wedding. Until then, enjoy!

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It was May. It was Tuesday. There were five days until the wedding. It was chaos.

"What have we done?" Lindsay moaned. "We should have just eloped."

Danny got up from his desk and crouched in front of her chair, resting his elbows on her knees and holding his chin. "Yeah, it is kinda crazy, isn't it?"

'Crazy' wasn't the word. The entire lab was in a wedding frenzy and it was all everyone was talking about (other than their cases of course). They'd invited essentially everyone they worked with and it seemed like they were all coming- 'all' being the entire crime lab. This was no easy accomplishment, at least not for the CSIs and techs- people had had to call the other borough's labs to get coverage. The paperwork involved in doing this was mind-boggling but Mac had used all his powers to smooth things over for his employees. Stella had ensured that Danny and Lindsay's wedding was the biggest social event the lab had in years- it was NOT to be missed.

Meanwhile, the people actually in the wedding party were even more berserk. Flack was grinning evilly 24/7 and had his cell phone glued to his ear as made final arrangements with Tony for Danny's bachelor party (they were splitting Best Man duty between them because Danny couldn't decide- flipping a coin hadn't seemed fair). And of course Stella hadn't stopped moving or making phone calls, not to mention working a grisly murder case. But if things went according to plan, as soon as it was closed she was taking some vacation days to immerse herself fully in wedding plans. Lindsay felt terrible about that until Danny pointed out that Stella was having the time of her life. And sure enough, she was smiling more than someone working a robbery-homicide ought to be.

To top it all off, Lindsay had over 40 people flying in from Montana; they started arriving late tonight.

"Don't worry so much, babe," Danny told her. "It could be worse." Lindsay rolled her eyes so he pressed on. "Seriously! We're not actually involved in the wedding plans so we don't need to worry about that. General Bonasera will make sure everything goes smoothly. And while it completely sucks that we can't really spend any time with your family this week there's nothing to worry about there, either. Ma'll take care of 'em." Because Danny and Lindsay needed their vacation days for Europe, Danny's mother had offered to take care of Lindsay's family so the CSIs could work. "She's really excited about playing travel agent- she has little packets made up for everybody with maps and suggested activities and everything. And she's really good at showing people around the city. They're in good hands."

"It's just so frustrating that I'm not going to be able to really see them much!" Lindsay sighed.

"Yeah, I know," he said with a pout. Which quickly turned into a smirk. "Hey, another way it could be worse- we could be worrying about two families instead of just yours! Plus we're not gonna have a problem with blending our families- my buddy Fred said that the night before his wedding, all the in-laws got in an actual fistfight. Black eyes all around. I bet that made for some memorable wedding photos." He waggled his eyebrows at her and she had to laugh.

"OK Danny, I get it. I should calm down. I won't worry," she said with a smile. If Danny could joke about his family issues, she could at least relax.

"Hell YEAH you should worry!" Danny joked. "We're getting married, Montana. As psyched as I am about it, that's frickin' scary. It's a big step. But that's all you should be worried about. Just forget about all the peripheral stuff." He stood, pulling her up from her chair, and wrapped his arms around her. He just held her for a minute before he spoke. "It's crazy, but we'll survive. And in the end, we'll be husband and wife…and in ITALY, baby!"

She laughingly pushed him away. "I see how it is, Messer. You're more excited about our honeymoon than you are about our marriage!"

He pulled her back towards him and kissed her. "You know that's not true, Monroe… You know, I'm not gonna get to call you that for much longer."

"I'm still going by Monroe at work," she reminded him. They'd decided it would too confusing if they both introduced themselves as Detective Messer.

"I know you are, but I'm not gonna call you that. I've wanted too badly for you to be Mrs. Messer for me to still call you Monroe."

"That's ok with me. I'm all for being Mrs. Messer, remember?" She kissed him again. "Thanks for calming me down, Danny. I'm not so panicked about the wedding anymore."

"You know what I am kinda panicked about?" he asked her. Lindsay shook her head. "Two things: this bachelor party and Flack's toast. He's been maniacally giggling and it's very unsettling."

"Don't be such a chicken, Danny. It'll be fine."

"Alright, but later on when I'm telling you 'I told you so' I'm rubbing this whole foreboding thing in your face."

"Fine, fine. Now shut up."

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Danny was dropping off some particulates with Adam later on when Mac called him into his office.

"Have a seat, Danny."

Danny's brow furrowed. _I haven't done anything wrong…maybe he's gonna give me a pre-wedding pep talk?_

"I just got off the phone with a Special Agent Fitzgibbon," Mac told him. Danny shook his head, indicating he didn't recognize the name. "He claims to have just had the weirdest telephone conversation in his career."

Danny just looked more puzzled. "And what does that have to do with me?"

"Apparently, a Rosamarie Messer just called him."

Danny's eyebrows shot up. "That's my aunt Rosie!"

Mac gave his little smile. "I know. Apparently, she would like to attend your wedding. As would a Lydia DePalma and a Francesca Ferrera," he read from a piece of paper.

"Those are my dad's sisters- Rosie never married. I haven't talked to them in years. Why are they asking the Feds and not me?"

"Your aunt Rosie was worried about getting you in trouble if she contacted you directly. She called Agent Fitzgibbon to ask whether it would be a problem or not. She also volunteered to take a federal agent with them as sort of an escort."

_Yeah, I guess this would be one strange conversation._ "And what did he say?"

"He told me that since your aunts weren't themselves under investigation, it wouldn't be a problem. And he's sending a junior agent with them as a chaperone- they won't talk to you without him present. That is, if you want them to come."

Danny was astonished. He hadn't seen any of his extended family since his high school graduation- he hadn't attended his father's funeral because he was discreetly informed that he wouldn't be welcome. _Why the hell do these three want to come to my wedding after all this time? I mean, they were always nice to me when I was little but I haven't heard a peep from them for over 10 years…WEIRD._

He finally shrugged and nodded. "Yeah they can come. Hell, my side of the church is gonna be practically empty otherwise. I'm just kinda stunned- how'd they even know about it?"

Mac chuckled. "Believe me, they're working to find that out. Agent Fitzgibbon sounded a little upset to learn the Messer Family and Tanglewood still had that many connections."

"Wow. This is nuts… Was that all you wanted to tell me?"

Mac chuckled and waved his hand to dismiss Danny, who hurried to get his strange blue chips to Adam so he could go tell Lindsay the bizarre news.

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Early Wednesday morning, Lindsay was comparing carpet fibers and anxiously watching the clock. Her parents and siblings had flown in the night before but she'd spent the night at the site of a murdered dentist with Danny. Despite the fact that they didn't leave the lab until after midnight, she'd be eager to come back this morning because Maureen had promised to bring Lindsay's family by to say hello before they headed out sightseeing.

"Special delivery for Lindsay Monroe!" Maureen Messer called from down the hallway. Lindsay squealed in excitement and ran to welcome her family. Danny quickly placed what he was working on in the GCMS machine and pressed 'start,' then hurried after her.

Lindsay was being hugged by everyone at once, and as soon as they saw Danny, they engulfed him too. Once everybody had received a proper greeting, Susie handed Lindsay her newest niece, little Becca, who was just a few months old. After Lindsay kissed and cooed for several minutes, Joe took his daughter back and nudged his sister in the ribs.

"So Lin-Lin, let's see the digs."

"Sure, I'll show you around. Follow me," Lindsay announced.

"Wait up," Danny said. "The kids are coming with me. Well, the ones that are over 1 and under 12."

"We are?" Matt asked eagerly.

"They are?" Lindsay asked quizzically.

"Yeah they are! I told 'em back in August I'd show 'em around if they visited. I got some cool stuff to show you," he said with a wink to the children. The boys yelled with excitement as Danny took Jeanie's hand and led them towards the elevators.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Flack, I got some suspects for you to arrest," Danny announced as he walked over to his friend's desk.

Flack looked up, surprised to hear Danny down here and even more surprised to see Danny carrying a little girl and being trailed by two boys, all of whom were sporting NYPD caps.

"On what charge?" Flack said with a grin.

"They're Monroes, and as such, they're born troublemakers," Danny informed him. "Kids, this is my good friend Detective Flack. Flack, these are Lindsay's nephews and one of her nieces. Timmy's the taller one, the other's Matt, and this here is Jeanie."

"Nice to meet you, 'tective Flack," Jeanie said politely.

"Nice to meet you too, kid. So what really brings you here, Messer?"

He shrugged. "We just sat in a squad car with the lights and sirens running. Now we're here to see you." He winked, indicating they were there for the standard 'kids visiting the precinct' spiel.

Flack smiled at the kids. "I can think of something more fun that just talking to me," he informed them. And that's how the three middle Monroe children ended up being booked- fingerprints and photographs and all.

"Oh, Susie's gonna love these," Danny laughed, looking at the pictures of the kids' mugshots. "It's a shame that perps don't usually grin like this, don't ya think?" he asked Flack.

"Absolutely," agreed Flack, who was currently being cuffed to his chair by Jeanie. After a few more minutes of joking around, Danny uncuffed Don.

"Ok, squirts, We're gonna head back upstairs so you can find out what it is that your aunt and I do," he said. "You'll see Flack later. Say goodbye."

"Bye Detective Flack!" they all cried and Jeanie gave him a hug.

Before Danny left, Flack grabbed his arm and hissed in his ear. "You tell anybody I spent part of the morning playing with a bunch of kids, your ass is grass. I've got a rep to maintain, ya know," he said jokingly.

"Don't worry, Flack, your secret is safe with me," Danny assured him. "You old softie."

--------------------------------------------------

Danny gave them each a NYPD coffee cup and then taught them how to dust for and lift prints from the mugs. Then they used a microscope to compare the prints they lifted to the ones that Flack took earlier. 

"See, almost anything you touch has your fingerprints on it. Which helps your Aunt Lindsay and I catch criminals. Like if we found a stolen car, we could dust for prints and figure out who stole it. Kinda neat, right?"

"Yeah," Timmy said with a big grin.

"And it's not just fingerprints. If we find a hair or a fingernail or even a scab at a crime scene, we can usually figure out who they belong to. So if a guy says he wasn't at a certain place but we find one of his hairs, we can match it and prove that he's lying."

"Cool!" Matt said.

"And we have this awesome machine that tells us what any substance is, almost," Danny said, leading them over to the machine he'd started before they arrived. "See, with the case I'm working right now I found a tiny amount of black gook at the crime scene. And looking at it, it's just black gook. Dunno what it is, right? But I put it in this machine and it tells us that," he grabbed the results he'd heard print a minute ago "the black gook is fertilizer and dirt. But not just any fertilizer- this tells me that it's a specific kind of fertilizer usually used on tomatoes. And since our suspect grows tomatoes, it looks like he might really be our bad guy. So now we'll go take a sample from his garden and compare it to this one. And if it's a match, we'll know he was at our crime scene even though he said he was never there. Cool, huh?"

"YEAH!" Matt and Timmy shouted together. Jeanie just nodded- she hadn't understood Danny's explanation but if her brothers thought it was cool, she did too.

"So we'll bring the guy down here and put him in a little room and Detective Flack'll talk to him. And hopefully, he confesses. Boom, case closed, all from the black gook." _Of course, it's never quite that simple…_

"There you are!" Lindsay said as she entered the room. "Your parents are waiting for you by the elevators. You're off to see the Statue of Liberty." To her surprise, Matt and Timmy ran up to her and hugged her.

"We're sorry we said you weren't a real cop Aunt Lindsay," Timmy told her.

"Yeah, your job is cool," Matt added. Then they all grabbed their coffee cups and mugshots and ran to show their mother.

"What did you tell them?" she asked Danny.

"I didn't really tell them so much as show them. But we'll talk about that later. Guess what that trace I found was..."

------------------------------------

The fertilizer samples were a positive match to the dentist's disgruntled patient, and while the guy hadn't confessed, they'd found the murder weapon buried in his garden. Which meant that Lindsay and Danny were free to join her family for dinner that night.

While Gail, Ashley, and Izzy peppered Lindsay with questions about the wedding (most of which she couldn't answer because it was stuff that Stella would know), Danny caught up with Hank. He really liked Lindsay's parents and was looking forward to being their son-in-law. He was immensely relieved that they seemed to feel the same way. And his mother and Gail seemed to be getting along swimmingly. _So I don't think we're gonna have to worry about black eyes in our pictures…unless Tony starts swingin' at Uncle Frank. Which is actually kinda likely...  
_

"So Joe, you coming with tomorrow night?" Danny asked later, referring to his bachelor party.

"No, sorry, I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass. Susie and I are going out on the town while Grandpa and Gramma watch the kids," Joe told him.

"I see how it is," Danny sniffed. "You're picking your lovely wife over a bunch of drunk guys."

"Yep," Joe said with a smile, leaning over and kissing Susie on the cheek. "This is our first time in the Big Apple, and we also haven't been out much since the baby was born. So you didn't really stand a chance."

Danny shrugged and smiled at his future brother-in-law. "I understand completely. You'll just have to buy me a beer next time I'm in Montana, ok. And I'll buy one for you to congratulate you on that beautiful baby girl of yours."

"Deal," Joe said and shook his hand.

"Are you going with Lindsay tomorrow, Ashley dear?" Gail asked her youngest daughter.

"I really don't know, Momma. Am I, Linds?" Ashley asked.

Lindsay thought for a minute. "You turned 21 last month, right Ax? Fine, you can come. You're a bridesmaid after all." Ashley squealed happily and Lindsay rolled her eyes. _I'm going to regret this, I know it._

"If you're letting your sister come, can I come too?" Gail asked eagerly. She laughed when she saw Lindsay's face freeze and display an expression of pure horror. "Relax, Lindsay. I'm kidding."

"Oh god Momma, that's not even funny!" Lindsay protested.

But the way Danny was cackling suggested he'd thought it was very funny. 'Your… face …Montana…PRICELESS…." he said as he fell from his chair in hysterics.

"If you don't stop laughing at me, Messer, you'll be feeling the 'in sickness' instead of the 'or in health' part of our wedding vows!"

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A/N2: Sorry no smuff but next chapter- bach parties! Ought to be fun. :) It'll be up tomorrow I promise


	33. Chapter 33

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Thursday night, Danny was told to be outside the crime lab at 9:30. When he got there Hawkes, Flack, Adam, Zack, Sid, Marty, and Mac were all waiting. His eyebrows shot up when he saw an old friend.

"Zau! I thought you'd moved to Philly!" he asked the massive ME.

"I did. But when Sid told me that you were getting married, I realized I couldn't miss it. I wasn't aware that hell had frozen over. Messer giving up the player life- unreal," he joked. Danny just grinned.

"OK, kids," Flack said. "Here's our ride!"

Danny turned to see one of those ridiculous SUV stretch limos pull up. "You've got to be shittin' me, Flack."

"Shut up, Danny," Tony said as he rolled down the window of the limo. "It's the only thing that would hold everybody. Now get your sorry ass in here."

Everyone went to get in, and Danny saw that they'd already picked up his friends from college. They had to squeeze close together because of the sheer number of them, not to mention the fact that some of Danny's friends bordered on huge.

"Jesus, Flack, can't you scrunch up any more?" Tony whined.

"Quit your bitching, little man," the tall detective informed him. Once everybody was in, the driver pulled out. "Ok, it's not going to take long for us to get there but we have time to get started," he said as he passed around shot glasses and a bottle of vodka. "Our mission tonight is to get Danny as drunk as he can get without ending up in the hospital. And if in achieving that goal we all get wasted too, well that's just great. To Messer!" he toasted and everybody drank.

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Meanwhile, it was Lindsay's turn to assemble for her party. They were gathering in the lobby of the hotel where all the wedding guests from out of town were staying, and she was currently waiting with Stella, Tricia, Jane, Angell, Peyton, and Jess for the rest of her friends to come down.

"There's the star of our show!" Rachel cried as The Girls and Ashley stepped off the elevator.

"Here- you have to wear this all night," Megan told her as she placed a plastic tiara with a veil attached to it on Lindsay's head.

Lindsay laughed. "Ok, but only if you tell me where we're going!"

Shelby grinned. "I found this wonderful place that plays all 80s music and has drinks the size of your head!"

"A perfect combo-we're going to have a blast!" Stella assured Lindsay and they all piled into the limo that was waiting out front.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh no, you didn't," Danny groaned when he got out of the limo and saw where they were. There was neon and the outline of a naked woman. _They did, those bastards._

"C'mon, it's traditional!" Flack said happily as he pulled his resisting friend into the 'gentlemen's club.'

Danny balked as soon as he got through the door. "Hey guys, let's find someplace else."

"What, are you afraid Lindsay will find out and kick your ass?" Zack teased. Danny's eyes shot daggers at the tech.

"Danny, it's your bachelor party," Marty reminded him. "You're practically legally obligated to go to strip club."

"Fine! But I'm not obligated to like it," he muttered as he stomped over to the bar, where Mac already was.

"You don't like these places either, Mac?" Mac just shook his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

Two hours later, Danny was still pointedly ignored the half-naked women who kept trying to get his attention.

"Listen, I'm sure you're very nice but if I give you $20 will you leave me the fuck alone?" Danny asked one particularly persistent dancer.

Danny's friend Chuck was appalled. "You're not supposed to pay them to stay away from you!"

Danny shrugged. "I'm not interested. Montana's a million times hotter than any of these women."

"You only have eyes for Lindsay," Hawkes noted.

"Exactly!" Danny shouted. He'd already had quite a bit to drink and was beginning to feel the effects. "I'm marrying the most beautiful, sexiest woman in the entire world. Why would I want to look at any of these broads? No offense," he added to stripper standing next to him. She scowled and then smiled, unsure as to whether she should be insulted or think that Danny was really sweet.

Mac walked over to Flack. "Don, I don't think Danny's not having a good time. I saw a sports bar across the street…"

Flack looked over at his friend, who was shooing yet another dancer away from him, and sighed. "You're right." He walked over to Danny and pulled him away from the bar. "Ok, bud, we get it. You're in love or you're whipped . Either way, we're outta here." The detective apologized to the bartender and led Danny out the door.

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"…And I'm hungry like the wooooooooolf!" Kirsten and Rachel were singing along loudly as everybody was dancing.

"This place is AWESOME!" Lindsay shouted happily, drinking a suspiciously pink drink from what was essentially a plastic fishbowl that was in fact the size of her head.

"You know what's awesome? This song!" Stella shouted back. "I was in love with this band. They were hot."

"You're hot! I love you hair!" Shelby informed her. "And hey, we're all hot! We are sexy women!"

"We are sexy women who are seriously buzzed," Stella corrected her.

"God I hope so- otherwise we have no excuse for dancing badly and singing like idiots!" Megan laughed.

"Who needs an excuse?" Lindsay asked as she twirled around, carefully clutching her drink. "We're sexy women and we're drunk and I'm happy because I'm getting maaaaaarried!"

"Shhh..." Stella waved her hand at her friend. "Shut up for a minute." The song had finished and the DJ was making an announcement.

"…And this one is going out to Lindsay who's getting hitched this Saturday!" The other club goers clapped and yelled their congratulations. Lindsay was smiling from the announcement but her grin widened as she realized what the next tune was.

"Stella! I love this song!" Lidnsay shouted happily.

"I figured- everybody does!" the curly-haired detective said with a laugh but Lindsay was already singing along enthusiastically.

"…And I neeeeeed you now tonight. And I neeeeed you more than ever!" Lindsay sang and made dramatic hand gestures as she danced. Stella couldn't help but laugh- she'd never seen the Montana CSI quite this far gone before.

Soon all the friends joined in so there were 20+ women singing at the tops of their lungs: "Once upon a time I was falling in love, now I'm only falling apart. There's nothing I can do, a total eclipse of the heart!"

---------------------------------------------

"Psst, Mac, come here..." Flack said with a laugh as they all headed across the street to the sports bar. They whispered for a minute and then walked through the doors at the front of the group.

"NYPD, people!" Flack shouted, holding his badge up in the air while Mac stood next to him, looking serious and showing his own shield. "We have a situation."

Everyone in the bar look panicked for a minute before Flack burst out laughing. "We have two detectives getting married this Saturday. And the lucky man is right here!" Mac said with a smile as he pulled Danny to the front. The crowd shouted happily and the bartender sighed in relief.

"Did Mac just help Flack play a joke on a bunch of people?" Hawkes asked in wonder.

"Mac is tipsy, or very close to it," Sid informed him. "I hope somebody brought a video camera, because this doesn't happen very often."

Flack's joke turned out to be a good investment because people kept sending drinks over for Danny to show their appreciation for 'the boys in blue.' This meant Danny's friends had more money to spend on their own alcohol. As they got more and more drunk, their teasing got worse and worse.

"You're really getting married? I can't wrap my head around it," Zau said. "You got so much action- that 'Messer Charm' was infamous. It's just unbelievable." He hadn't been around for a while and hadn't seen the major changes Danny had made.

"Yeah, seriously!" Marty added. "Don't get me wrong, Lindsay's great and if I were looking for a wife I'd probably try and find someone similar. But you dated some hot women, Messer! You're gonna give all that up? Just one woman? Are you insane?"

Chuck started laughing hysterically at this point

"What's so funny?" Flack asked.

"It's just that Danny was that guy!" Chuck said, pointing to Marty. "The guy who always went on and on at our bachelor parties how insane we were to tie ourselves down to one woman, how marriage was a crock and a scam, how we were making the biggest mistake of our lives, blah blah blah. It's just too fucking surreal."

"Hey! That was years ago! I'm a changed man!" Danny cried. "And Marty, Montana is a hot woman! The hottest, actually! I'm not giving anything up."

Zau skeptically shook his head. "I'll admit I don't know her very well, but she always seemed more cute than hot. And she had a whole 'girl-next-door' vibe. I always pegged her as kind of prissy."

Danny threw his hands up in the air in disbelief. He turned to Chuck, Fred and the rest of college buddies. "Tell him, is my girl prissy?" Their eyes widened as they thought of the last time they'd all gone out to a bar together. Lindsay had held insane amounts of beer (and real beer too, none of that light shit). And she'd had Danny pinned against the wall with her tongue down his throat for half the night.

"Hell no!" Fred told Zau. "And if you don't mind me saying so, Danny, she is a total babe."

"Thank you! My gal's a babe!" Danny said, slapping the table to emphasize his point. "And let me tell you- she might seem like the girl next door but she's got a real wild streak. Do you know she took dance lessons for over 10 years? That girl can bend like a pretzel…"

"Really?" Hawkes said in surprise, more at the dance lessons then her pretzel-imitating abilities.

"God, she's incredible," Danny said with a groan. "You can't really tell because she doesn't wear tight clothes, but she has seriously got the perfect body…But I don't want to see any of you checkin' out my wife!" he snapped at them.

"Of course not, Danny," Adam assured him.

"Good," Danny said with a snort. "You better not, or I'll break your shins." He rested his head on the table for minute, then sat up and took another vigorous swing of his drink.

"So tell us more, Messer…" Flack said with a grin.

Danny had put his head back down on the table and he groaned. "Why do you want to know? Mind your own business!"

"Hey! We're curious! And tonight is the one night we get to ask you about it," Flack whined.

"Hell, if he won't tell you about it I will," Tony joked. "They're always going at it."

"Shaddup, Tony," Danny warned his cousin.

"Its true- whenever we go out, they always leave early so they can get home and screw," Tony told the group with a laugh. "And their landlord made them put soundproofing tiles up in their entire apartment." Everyone laughed.

"When they first started dating, they had to be put on different cases because it was too distracting to work with each other," Mac informed the group with a little smile. This made people laugh harder.

"I was like that with my first wife," Sid said. "Of course, we despised each other when we weren't having sex. So I'm glad that you and the lovely Miss Monroe are basing your marriage on more than physical compatibility."

Hawkes shuddered. "No offense Sid, but I've had way too much to drink to think about you having sex."

"None taken," the older ME said with a smile. "Danny, they don't want to hear about me. You better start talking."

Danny was still facedown on the table. "She was a cheerleader," he said into the wood.

"What was that?" Adam asked.

Danny sat up. "Montana was a cheerleader in high school. She still has the uniform. She wears it sometimes. Just the other night, in fact." he told them with a big grin.

"And that's my cue to go get us another round," Mac said as he stood up and walked to the bar. As Lindsay's boss (and also a fairly private man) he didn't particularly want to know the intimate details of their relationship. But for everyone else, the questions had started flying.

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Over at Culture Club, they were taking a breather and had all squeezed into a big booth because they were getting too drunk to dance.

"Danny speaks Italian to me sometimes …it's really fucking hot!" Lindsay said with a sigh.

"HE'S really fucking hot," Shelby reminded her.

Stella nodded. "I mean, he's like my kid brother but even I've got to admit the guy oozes sex."

"What a perfect description of Detective Studmuffin!" Marie told Stella with a smile. "Your future husband 'oozes sex,' Lin."

"Oh believe me, I know!" Lindsay said happily. "He's almost too good looking. I am so damn sick of women throwing themselves at him. I mean, he's not interested so they bounce off him like he's made of Teflon but it's just so fucking ANNOYING especially when we're out on a date. Its like, 'Hello! I'm here! Do you not see me, you plastic bitches?' Seriously! It drives me crazy!"

"So does Danny live up to his reputation?" Tricia asked to get Lindsay to stop ranting as a pissed of Lindsay Monroe can be a force to be reckoned with, especially if she's had lots of suspiciously colored drinks.

Lindsay nodded vigorously. "OH yeah. I'm actually kinda glad he was such a ladies' man when he was younger. It means he got lots of practice and so now he's really good in bed." She smiled dreamily.

"You're a lucky lady, Lin," Megan said.

"You have no idea- you should see him with his shirt off!" Lindsay sighed again. "He's seriously ripped. And he's got these tattoos…" she trailed off with a shiver. "You know, he wanted to get 'Lindsay' tattooed on his arm but I wouldn't let him because it's a relationship death curse."

"You're right about that," Angell cracked, thinking about the letter she'd stupidly had inked on her ankle. "I try to only date guys whose names start with C" she told them as she pulled up her pants leg to show them.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Shit, Montana's gonna kill me when she finds out I told you all this," Danny moaned. He perked up. "But she's seriously fucking hot when she's pissed off at me." He moaned again, but it was a different caliber moan.

"Is it safe to rejoin you all now?" Mac said, slurring his words a little.

"Sure, the only thing that isn't safe to do is for Danny to stand up right now," Tony said with a wink. "Partly because of all the booze, and partly because he's thinking about Lindsay."

The night continued on and they were all having lots of fun, but as soon as the bartender called last call, Danny was ready to go.

"You sure, Danny? We can hit an after-hours bar," Tony asked. Danny shook his head adamantly. "Fine, we'll leave as soon as we finish our drinks. But first, a toast." He stood up, a bit wobbly. "To Danny and Lindsay- may she never come to her senses and realize what a chump my cousin is. May valuable pieces of Danny's anatomy not fall off due to too much sex. And may all the kids take after Lindsay in every regard!"

Soon they were all climbing into the ridiculous limo, where Hawkes pulled out a paper bag he'd left there earlier.

"Pedialite," he announced. "Hangovers are caused by dehydration. So everybody who has work in the morning should drink one," he said as he passed them around.

"Thanks Doc. So this was fun, huh?" Flack said with a big grin. "I don't know about you, but my high point was definitely seeing the great Mac Taylor drunk." He let out a giggle/chortle noise that was particularly unnatural coming from someone his size.

"Don," Mac said, glaring at the detective and shaking a finger in his face. "I am not drunk, I'm just a little tipsy."

"You keep telling yourself that, Taylor," Sid joked.

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The bachelorette party had been a raving success. Everybody had had a great time (although Ashley found it weird to see her big sister so drunk and talking about her sex life). But now it was late and everybody was heading home. The women staggered to the limo, all clutching their empty fishbowls like trophies.

Once they were in the limo, Lindsay turned to Rachel. "Rachel, I jus' want to tell you I love you. And you Shelby. And Kirsten. And Megan. And of course you Marie. I love you all. You threw me a great party. I love my Girls. I love my fishbowl. You rock like meteors."

"And Stella!" she cried. "I love you too. I appreciate you lots for plannin' my weddin' an' everything…you're so great! And you have very pretty eyes. You have pretty eyes too Angell. And Peyton, Jane, I love your accents. I like the way you say aluminum."

Shelby laughed. "I forgot that she gets like this when she drink a lot!"

"What do I get like?" Lindsay asked her.

"You get very happy and you tell everybody you love them," Kirsten told her.

"But I do love everybody! I love Danny the most though."

"Oh, we know," Ashley said with a smile.

"Little sister! I love you! Even though you were always stealing my clothes when you were a kid. But I love you! And Jess! We're going to be sisters too almost! Well, family! How awesome is that! I love you and Tony. You're great. Great great great."

"Ok, sweetie, we're home," Megan said.

"Goodnight everybody! Remember I love you all!" Lindsay said as she crawled out of the cab. Stella got out with her.

"I'll just make sure she gets inside," she told everyone else. But Lindsay refused to enter the building.

"I wanna wait for Danny," she said stubbornly.

"But Linds, we don't know when he'll be home," Stella argued.

Lindsay shook her head vigorously. "He's coming." So Stella told the rest of the girls to head on home without her. And while Lindsay waited, she started to sing.

"Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon…"

"Shh, Lindsay, you've got to be quiet or someone will call the police.

"But we are the police, Stella!"

"Oh, yeah. Carry on then."

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"Danny, what's wrong with you?" Hawkes asked. He'd expected his friend to be passed out by now, but Danny was sitting up eagerly in his seat and fidgeting anxiously. Then they pulled up in front of Danny's building. _I should have guessed. _ Lindsay was standing there waiting for him, wearing a big grin, tight jeans, a tank top, and a goofy veil.

"Night, guys. Thanks!" Danny said as he jumped out the limo- he almost hadn't waited for it to stop. He quickly ran over to Lindsay, who leapt into his arms. As everyone looked on in astonishment, they started frantically making out. Danny's hands were squeezing Lindsay's ass as he held her up, and one of Lindsay's hands had crept under Danny's shirt to caress his chest.

"Still think she's prissy, Zau?" Chuck joked.

Zau was too shocked to answer at first. "No! And she is hot! Danny wasn't exaggerating !"

"I don't think they're going to make it inside!" Adam said in awe. But just then, their doorman came over and let them in.

"Ok, they're in the building, but are they going to make it to their apartment?" Mac asked. The doorman seemed to be worried about the same thing, because he'd hurriedly followed the couple into the elevator.

Then Flack noticed that Lindsay hadn't been waiting by herself. "STELLA!" he bellowed out the window in his best Marlon Brando impersonation. She rolled her eyes and walked over to the limo.

"Gee, Don, I've never heard that one before. Give me a ride home," she demanded.

"Your chariot awaits, milady," Tony said as he scooted over to make room for her.

"Were you waiting long?" Mac asked.

Stella shrugged. "Five minutes tops. They've been text messaging each other all night, apparently."

"So that was quite the show, huh?" Flack asked with a big grin. "For a minute there, we thought Danny was going to just fuck her against the side of the building."

"It's a good thing that doorman came along, then," Stella said with a smile.

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'That doorman' was currently riding in the elevator up to Danny and Lindsay's floor. When he saw Lindsay standing out front, apparently waiting for somebody, he'd guessed from the joke veil that the young couple would be especially 'affectionate' tonight. His suspicious were confirmed when Danny had shot out of the limo towards his fiancée. He'd quickly realized neither of them were in any position to get their keys out, so he'd hurried from his station to let them in.

It had also occurred to him that if they couldn't unlock the outer doors, they would be unable to unlock their apartment door. And so he was afraid they'd just give into their carnal impulses in the elevator. Which wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that other residents tended to use the elevator. _God forbid Mrs. McKenna decides to take Rufus for a late night walk …_

But his presence in the elevator car seemed to be causing them to behave themselves. Yes, Lindsay had pulled Danny's shirt off but that was it. When the doors opened on their floor and Danny started walking towards their door, the doorman coughed discreetly.

"Detective Messer, if you give me your keys I'll take care of the door for you."

Danny nodded without detaching his lips from his 'belt buckle.' Lindsay fished his key ring out of his front jeans pocket, evoking a groan from Danny that made the doorman blush furiously. He fumbled with the lock but ultimately got it open and quickly pressed the keys into Lindsay's hand before Danny kicked the door shut behind them while muttering a quick 'thanks.' He heard the thump of what must assuredly be Lindsay's back being pressed against the door and he blushed some more.

_DEFINITELY rabbits, those two. Goodness!_

_-----------------------------------------_

Danny had indeed pressed Lindsay up against the door and started grinding into her almost immediately. After the second failed thrust, he growled in frustration.

"DAMMIT Montana! Why are you wearing jeans?" _A skirt would be SO much better right now…_

She stared into space for a minute, thinking. "I have no idea," she finally responded with a giggle.

He sighed. "You realize I'm gonna hafta put you down?"

"NO!" Lindsay whined, wrapping her legs and arms even tighter.

"It's gotta be done, babe. On the count of three I'm gonna set you down and then you have 30 seconds to get those frickin' jeans off, ok? 1 2 3." They both stripped remarkably fast for two heavily intoxicated people- so fast that they both lost their balance and fell over. Danny silently blessed Lindsay for having the foresight to put a thick rug down just inside the door- they'd bruised themselves on the hardwood floor too often.

He fairly awkwardly scrambled over to where Lindsay was lying and nuzzled her neck. "I've been lookin' forward to this all night," he said happily.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Lindsay said rather impatiently. Danny didn't need any further encouragement- he'd been insanely wound up for the last several hours. It wasn't just from talking about Lindsay earlier- he was always this way when he drank and he knew she was in a similar condition. So he did as his love requested and kissed her passionately as he slid inside. To his surprise, once they were joined she used what he jokingly called her 'Hulk Smash' strength to flip them both over.

"I wanna be on top!" she said with a laugh as she started to ride him.

"Be my guest, babe!" Danny looked up at the radiant beauty leaning over him and grinned. _DAMN I like to watch her bounce… _After a while Danny pulled her closer to him so he could get his mouth involved. He went for his favorite spot first, the hollow in her collar bone, and started to suck. Despite being wrapped up in ecstasy, when he started nibbling on her neck she had the presence of mind to shrug him off.

"No hickies! They'll show with the dress. I wanna look beautiful on my wedding day, not trashy."

"'Course you'll look beautiful," Danny murmured as his mouth moved lower in search of something safe to suck on. "You're an angel," he said right before he licked her nipple. "Angelo mio."

Lindsay moaned loudly. She was close to the edge and it seemed like Danny's mouth was going to push her over- the mouth that wasn't content to just taste her but also had to say insanely sweet things (in Italian no less!) to her at the same time.

Danny looked up at her with wicked grin. He knew what he was doing to her and he was enjoying it immensely. "Piu in fretta," he asked with a wink.

_He wants faster? I'll give him faster…_ She grabbed his hands and pinned them down past his head so she could brace herself and started to rapidly wiggle her hips. Danny responded by continue to murmur in her ear and she rewarded his sweet nothings with sudden shifts in direction. Side-to-side, forwards-backwards…with each change Danny would gasp loudly (and sometimes curse).

"FUCK! Mi ammazzarai," he whined as she continued to torture him with her movements. "You're killin' me, Montana," he translated.

"We can't have that," she panted as she released his hands. One hand promptly reached down to caress her swollen clit as the other lightly pinched a nipple. As he hoped, Lindsay almost immediately began to spiral into her orgasm and as she shouted he was free to let go himself. Not that he had a choice- Lindsay was clenching interesting muscles and he was going to come whether he wanted to or not.

As her tiny frame collapsed on top of his, he sighed happily and smiled. He went to run his fingers through her hair and started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" a now sleepy Lindsay mumbled.

"What the hell do you have on your head, Montana?"

She reached up to feel for herself and sure enough, in her efforts to strip she hadn't removed her plastic tiara/veil.

"Oh that. Present from The Girls." She went to take it off and he reached up to stop her.

"No, leave it on. I kinda like it." His eyes were twinkling. She recognized the look on his face and groaned.

"Danny, I'm tired!" she protested, somewhat half-heartedly.

"No you aren't. You only think you are. You're always like this when you drink- you think you're ready for bed right now but as soon as we get into our bed you're gonna be rearing to go again. You are one horny drunk, missy."

Lindsay pinched his side. "Pot? It's the kettle. Guess what? You're black! And at least I don't get sappy- do you remember calling me an angel? That's a bit cheesy even for you. I mean, I liked it, but we're talking saccharine-sweet."

Danny flushed slightly- at least she thought he did (he was already red from exertion and liquor). "Guilty as charged. I guess the booze lowers my schmaltz inhibitions. Anyway, you're the affectionate drunk. If I had a nickel for every time you told me you loved me just now, we could be livin' in a nice brownstone." She giggled.

"I told everybody I loved them tonight, I think. But I also told them I loved you the most!"

"Good to know, good to know." Danny gingerly got to his feet and helped Lindsay up. "C'mon, sugar, let's take this show to our nice comfy mattress." They leaned against each other as they staggered to their bedroom.

"You know, Linds, this is the last time I'm having sex as a single guy," he told her as she lay down on the bed next to him. Tomorrow night Lindsay was going to stay with her family in the hotel so that he wouldn't see her Saturday morning before the wedding- Lindsay turned out to be superstitious.

She giggled. "But it's still with me. So it's not going to be all that different after Saturday."

"Nonetheless, it's a big deal."

"Getting cold feet, cowboy?"

"Hell no! I'm all for 'limiting myself to just one woman' as Pino put it. As long as that one woman is you, it sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me." He scooted down the bed until his chin was resting on her navel. He cleared his throat, and then looked lower with a solemn expression on his face. "I, Danny, take Lindsay's pussy to have and to hold and promise to be faithful to it as long as we both shall live …"

Lindsay laughed and lightly hit Danny on the top of his head. "You're so weird Daniel Messer!"

He looked up at her and waggled his eyebrows. "I am and you love it. Admit it."

She laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "Ok, but only under duress. By the way, I stopped you before you got to the kissing part," she said with a smirk.

"Excellent point, Miss Monroe! Don't mind if I do…"

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Unfortunately, Lindsay's tiara didn't survive Round 3. She planned on keeping it anyway- to remind her of her awesome bachelorette party and her very memorable after-party. She lay face down on the bed, completely worn out.

"Sorry 'bout your veil-thingy, Montana," Danny said as he ran his hand down her back.

"It's ok- you're enthusiastic! I'm not gonna complain," she said with a giggle. _God I hope I sober up soon- I hate giggling._

"You know, it's a good thing you agreed to marry me. 'Cause I'd been thinking that I'd like a big ol' 'Property of Danny' tattoo right here," he said with a light slap on her butt. Lindsay pushed herself up on her elbows with a gasp and glared at him. "And before you get all offended, I woulda gotten a matching one. But the whole ring thing is better. Especially because everybody will see it. That was the major flaw in my ass-tattoo plan."

"Why'd you want that anyway? It's not like you to get possessive."

"Eh, 'possessive' is an awful strong word. We see possessive a lot at work and trust me, I'm not like that. I just, well, I guess I just I want people to know you're off limits and happily taken." Lindsay could hardly begrudge him this as just a few hours earlier she was complaining about other women's behavior towards Danny.

"I know what you mean, honey," she said as she kissed him. She thought for a minute, and giggled again. "Sometimes I feel like I should lick the side of your face and yell 'dibs!' when we're out in public."

Danny laughed and pulled her close to him. "It's not necessary, Montana, but if you feel you have to go right ahead. Now whaddaya say we try and get some sleep before work? We've got to be there in," he squinted at the clock "four hours and I don't know about you but I'm all worn out!"

But Lindsay was already asleep, curled close to him. He looked at her with a smile and decided that Zau's description was best for all the changes in his life. '_Unreal'…I'll second that, bud._

His last thought before he fell asleep was _PLEASE God, may it be a slow day tomorrow. I think everybody's gonna be a wreck…_

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A/N: Another longish chapter but I hope you liked it!. By the way, where Lindsay went is a real club in the city (and is more or less Mecca for bachelorette parties.) So I guess as a disclaimer I should say I don't own it, either.


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: Sorry so long without updating- bad cold + new job means no time for writing. I'm so glad people seemed to enjoy the last chapter so much, but I'm afraid it'll make this chapter seem like a bit of a let-down. Fear not, I'll strive to have some more LOL/uber-sexy moments before the story is over! Just bear with me. :)

This is just a short-ish little chapter to make up for so long without updating. More to come but until then, enjoy! 

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Danny was partially right about everyone being a wreck the next morning- about half of those who had gone out the night before were amongst the walking wounded. And he, lucky man that he was, got to claim membership with the zombie group. The rest of the party goers were just fine and dandy. Lindsay, for instance, was as fresh as a daisy despite her alcohol consumption and lack of sleep. If Danny didn't love her with all his heart, he'd totally hate her guts.

Mac was of course normal Mac as he handed out assignments that morning, although Danny had to fight back a laugh at the memory of his boss staggering to the limo the night before. The Marine in question must have sensed the laugh (stifled as it was) and fixed Danny with a look that made it clear that his sobriety was never to be discussed lest Danny want to find out about the 343 ways Mac knew how to kill somebody with a spork.

Fortunately, the caseload was light and not just because some people were nursing hangovers the size of Long Island. The entire lab was 'a-twitter,' as Sid put it. The excitement that had been building due to the wedding was reaching its crest and people simply did not want to talk about anything else. This was the most exciting non-case event that had happened to the crime lab in years (which just went to show how thrilling the life of a criminalist can be). Whenever the NYPD had a fancy to-do with the Police Commissioner and the Mayor and standard rich society people, they didn't ask everyday grunts to come. Those shindigs were only for important people (like Mac, actually). And since the crime lab wasn't connected with any one precinct in particular, they usually got left out of any social events the station houses would put together. They usually didn't plan anything themselves because they all worked such crazy hours.

No, the Holiday Party was pretty much it for kicks for the crime lab, and hence the wedding was a very big deal. Not only was it an opportunity to get dressed up, dance, and have a good time but there was also going to be fancy food (Sid had really busted his ass and gotten them a great deal with some gourmet friends of his) and an open bar (Danny wasn't asking Stella how she managed to pull that off on their budget, because he was pretty sure she'd have to kill him). So the lab was humming with pre-event chatter, though few people mentioned the fact that two people were actually going to get married the next day.

While people were psyched up over the DJ and the champagne, they were still happy for those to be wed. Danny and Lindsay were an eminently likeable couple due to the fact that they were both likeable people. Danny was the goofy loudmouth who almost single-handedly kept the water-cooler gossip mill running for years due to his brash tendency of doing before thinking (plus his relationship drama with his beloved Montana). It took people longer to warm up to Lindsay because she'd seemed somewhat distant when she'd first arrived but after over 2 years with the team (and over a year with Danny) she'd opened up considerably and people finally saw the fun, happy woman behind that serious expression. And as a couple they were so sweet 'it makes your teeth hurt to see them' according to Tricia. So everybody was looking forward to seeing them tie the knot.

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Danny and Lindsay had a classic open-and-shut case. After coming down from a jealousy-fueled rage, the boyfriend realized what he'd done and had called 911 in order to report the killing and turn himself in. All they had to do was make sure the guy's story checked out and accept his confession. Which they did Which meant they could leave early. Which was lucky because they had things to do.

"Whaddaya say we skedaddle, Montana?" He rubbed his hands together eagerly as he stood beside her locker. "Places to be, food to cook, furniture to move…"

They were going to try and fit Lindsay's extended family into their apartment tonight for dinner. She was anticipating a clown-car situation although Danny had taken measurements and was sure that people would fit as long as they didn't all want to sit down at the same time. And because he joked that Lindsay's family was no doubt expecting a feast on the night when they'd be meeting the Messer clan, he'd been making trays of stuffed shells whenever he had time for the past week and freezing them. "Just because the Messers are just 4 people doesn't mean they shouldn't get their big Italian meal," he'd quipped.

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"This is insane," Lindsay noted for the 3rd time as Danny returned from next door. Because they couldn't reheat all the trays of stuffed shells at the same time in their oven, their new neighbors were letting them use theirs as well. The neighbors, a young family with a cute baby boy, were very nice people and liked their floormates a lot (possibly thanks to Mr. Petersen's soundproofing tiles).

"Hush and help me move the sofa," Danny ordered nicely after placing a piping hot tray of 'Pasta a la Messer' on a warming pan. "Ok- now lemme go put out all those chairs I got from St. Mary's." St. Mary's was the church on their block that Lindsay and Danny went to from time to time- it was also where they were going to get married.

"It was nice of Father Bill to let us borrow them for the night," Lindsay commented.

"Yeah, good thing he loves us. Otherwise your family would be beating each other up for room on the couch," Danny retorted as he wheeled out the stack of chairs and placed them around the living room. "Ok- seating, check. Dusted all the rooms, check. Food, check…" he trailed off and looked at Lindsay with a glazed expression. "What am I forgetting?"

"Beer!" Lindsay reminded him.

"Beer, check. Can't have you country folks over without beer. But that's not it…what am I forgetting, dammit?" He closed his eyes to concentrate and after a moment they snapped open. "RIGHT!" He ran into the bedroom and returned a few minutes later with a big grin on his face.

"What did you remember?"

"We forgot to unhook my handcuffs from the bedpost this morning," he told her with a smirk. "Wouldn't want your family seeing 'em and asking a bunch of embarrassing questions now, would we?"

Lindsay's red cheeks answered his question for him, but then her eyes opened wide and she ran into the hallway.

"What did you remember?" he asked when she returned.

It was her turn to smirk. "Last night you managed to throw my panties onto the ceiling fan- they were dangling from one of the blades. Something else I'd rather not answer questions about. Especially since I'm not sure how it happened." Danny looked at the underwear in her hand and vaguely remembered shooting her thong like it was a slingshot at some point. He grinned.

"Atta girl, Montana. Although your dad might be impressed with my aim…no, I guess not."

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At 7:00 their doorbell rang and Lindsay opened the door to find 31 family members clumped in the hallway.

"We all took the subway!" Gail said proudly. Lindsay tried to picture the Monroe-Fisher flock descending upon the NY subway system en masse and drew a complete blank. Her father going through a turnstile was simply unimaginable, for starters. Gail guessed what she was thinking. "Don't worry- we took pictures!"

Her family trickled into the apartment and Lindsay and Danny met each person with a hug.

"Make yourselves at home," Danny called out once everybody was in. "Place isn't big enough to justify a tour, so I'm just gonna shout and point. Kitchen, living room, office/gym/guest room, bedroom, bathroom. Feel free to wander around. Don't feel free to rummage through my underwear drawer." He finished with a big smile.

"I'll try to resist the temptation," Joe said with a chortle.

"Danny, your family hasn't gotten here yet?" Aunt Ginny asked. "Where are you going to put them when they get here? It's already so crowded…"

"Don't worry, Ginny. I think they'll fit," he said as he gave Lindsay a little wink.

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Tony, Jess, and Maureen arrived just as Danny was ready to serve dinner.

"Sorry, man," Tony apologized with a shrug. "We stopped at the bakery to pick up a ton of cannolis to go with your pasta."

"And I made brownies," Danny's mother said as she kissed his cheek.

"You're just in time," Danny assured them as he steered them all into the living room. He whistled like he was hailing a cab. "Hey, Montana folk! This is my ma, Maureen. And this here is my cousin Tony and his wife Jess. And that's my family. Family, this is everybody," he gestured to the crowd. "I'll introduce you all on an individual level but first, dinner is served. I got a buffet set up in the kitchen. Stuff yourselves silly, there's enough for everybody. Even for you Joe, you frickin' behemoth."

As promised, once people had their food Danny led his relatives around the apartment introducing them to Lindsay's kin. As Danny had predicted, Tony clashed with Frank and Harry but in a way that had them all enjoying themselves. If they loved Danny for being feisty and argumentative, that was before they met Tony who was just as bad as Danny and had a law degree.

"I thought there'd be more of you," Uncle Ted had commented. "On TV the Italian families in the city were always so huge."

"Well, there are more of us. A lot more, actually," Danny replied. "I'm not on speaking terms with the bulk of my family. We had a falling out." That was the only explanation he gave all night, and that was the only one that was required. Lindsay's family was as down-to-earth as she was, and Danny was very appreciative of this fact.

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The night had been a success. Everybody had a great time, the two families got to know one another better, and Danny was reminded just how quirky Lindsay's kinfolk could be (for example, Aunt Flo had brought pictures of her cats with her and had updated Danny on their feline lives since he visited last and he'd had another extremely heated debate with the sports fanatics in Montana's family tree).

"You know your family is completely wacky, right?" Danny asked Lindsay as he threw out the last of the paper plates. Everyone had finally headed back to the hotel except Lindsay's parents- they were staying to help clean up and to take Lindsay with them so she could spend the night there. Maureen had taken Lindsay's family back since Gail was the only one who knew how to navigate the subway system.

"Hey, in a few hours they'll be your family too, bucko," Hank warned him as he moved the sofa back to its original position.

"It's not too late to back out," Lindsay said teasingly.

"Are you kidding me, Montana? Stella would have my head on a platter if I messed up her big plans." He sliced his hand across his neck dramatically to indicate what their Greek friend would do to him. "Not that I'd even consider standing you up even for a millisecond. If anything, I'm worried about you coming to your senses. Make sure she gets there tomorrow, ok Gail? I can lend you my cuffs if need be…"

"Now Danny, I'm not going to make my little girl marry anybody she doesn't want to," Gail chided. "But since I'm certain she wants to marry you, don't worry about it. I don't think we'll need your handcuffs." She smiled as she thought back to the similar reassurance she'd given the young man the previous August. _Told you so, young man! A mother knows all…_

A little later, it was impossible to tell that there had just been nearly 40 people jammed into their apartment. Now that the cleaning was over, Danny and Lindsay had to say goodnight.

"This is kinda weird," Danny said with a smile as they stood at the door. Her parents had already headed down the hall to call the elevator.

"I'd say it brings back memories, but we skipped the stage of dating where we went to our different apartments at the end of the night. You never walked me to my door and just kissed me goodnight."

"That's right, I never did. I forgot how easy you were." He anticipated her response and caught her little hand before she could smack his shoulder. "Well, then let me kiss you goodnight now." He did and she sighed happily. But she had to go and so she pulled away.

"Next time I see you, Messer, you damn well better be waiting for me at the end of the aisle."

"Wild horses couldn't keep me away, Montana. In fact, wild horses AND wild dogs AND wild hippopotamuses couldn't keep me away. I am marrying you tomorrow Lindsay Monroe and nothing is gonna stop me."

"You shouldn't say stuff like that, you know. In movies whenever somebody says 'nothing is going to stop me' something terrible always happens that does stop them."

"I'll risk it. Now you better go and get some rest. We've got a big day tomorrow, and you aren't going to sleep tomorrow! I'm planning on keeping Mrs. Messer up allll night."

"I think Mrs. Messer will be more than ok with that idea. So you better get some sleep too. Goodnight Danny. Love ya."

"Love ya back. Night hon."

Danny slept fitfully. Their bed felt strange; it was empty without her next to him. And he kept having awful dreams where Lindsay either had a meltdown when she reached the altar or she didn't show up at all. _Stop it, Messer…she'll be there, she'll be there._

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_A/N2: Don't worry, its not a cliffhanger. Just normal pre-wedding jitters. _


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: Grovel grovel grovel. Yeah I know its been a while. Life + computer woes + writer's block makes for 1 very apologetic author. Anyway, here we go!

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The next morning, Danny awoke to his cousin banging a pot with a wooden spoon. Directly over his head.

"C'mon, sleepyhead! Today's the day you surrender your freedom, you lucky devil!"

Danny grumbled but got out of bed. "Why the hell did I give you a key to my place, ya bum?"

"Hey, you're the one who didn't want his plants to die when he went west with his girlfriend. Accept the consequences. And get dressed, we're getting breakfast."

'We' included Flack, who met them at the diner.

"As your best men, it's our responsibility to keep you occupied until the ceremony to keep you from running away or driving yourself crazy," Tony explained. "I'm here for the advice, Flack is here for comic relief."

"That's me," the tall detective confirmed.

"So have you started freaking out yet?" Tony asked. Danny made a face. "Oh, you will. It's to be expected. Especially with somebody like you."

"Whaddaya mean, somebody like me?"

"C'mon Danny, Lindsay is your first serious relationship. And since you were 16 years old you've been bragging about how you'll never get married. So of course you're going to freak out a little and have some doubts. It's normal," Tony assured him.

"We're here to make sure you don't pay any attention to those doubts. We don't want you fucking up the best thing you have in your life," Flack added. Danny's eyebrows lifted a little in surprise. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I may be holding on to bachelorhood with both hands but I can still be glad you're getting married. Lindsay is good for you. And besides, with you off the market I have less competition."

"Here's all you need to know," Tony said. "Married life is great when the two people are completely in love. Which you and Lindsay are. So you got nothing to be worried about, man." He clinked his coffee cup against Danny's. "To a lifetime of happiness, cousin o'mine."

"Eat those waffles, Messer," Flack ordered with a jab of his fork. "You don't have to be at the church until 1:30. So we're hitting up a double-feature of kung-fu movies this morning. Get some male bonding in before we have to deal with the estrogen-fest Stella's got planned."

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Meanwhile, Lindsay was having breakfast with her parents when her phone rang.

"Good morning to our blushing bride! You ready to tie that knot?"

"Sure am, Stella. How's everything going?"

"Chaos right now, but I got your Girls helping me out and so it'll be carefully orchestrated perfection by this afternoon. So no worries." Lindsay's friends weren't morally opposed to helping with weddings, just being in them. "Anyway, I was just calling you to double-check the schedule. You and Ashley need to be at the salon at 12:00 to get your hair and nails done and I want you to come straight to the church after that, ok?"

"What, you're not coming with? Stella, you're the Maid of Honor! Shouldn't you be getting your hair done too?"

Her friend laughed. "Lindsay babe, hairdressers tend to panic when they see these curls. So I figured I'd spare them the anxiety. And I don't want them biting their combs in frustration. They might chip a tooth or something."

"That's very considerate of you."

"I try. Now you said something about walking around Central Park with your family this morning? That's great- I want you to just enjoy yourself. Relax. You have absolutely nothing to worry about, kiddo, everything is taken care of."

"You are a wedding goddess."

"Why thank you! Although I think I'm going to have to ask you to wait until you see everything to give me that title. Well I've got to run…I'm at the church and the florist just got here. Call me if you have any questions, ok?"

"Will do. Bye!" She hung up and looked at her parents. "We ready to round up everybody and get to the park?" Her parents nodded.

"We'd better get going. Matt and Jeanie have been really looking forward to the zoo. If we don't get their soon they might explode." Hank said.

Lindsay smiled. "I wouldn't mind checking out the tigers while we're there…"

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Lindsay stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was done and so were her nails. Her dress was just what she'd wanted. No tulle, no train: just simple elegance. She looked at herself in what Stella had called 'the bargain of the century' (just $65!) and burst into tears.

Gail had been waiting for this moment all morning and hurried over to her daughter. She pressed a wad of tissues into Lindsay's hand and embraced her. "It's ok, dear. Tell Momma what's wrong."

If Lindsay was trying to tell Momma what was wrong, Momma couldn't understand her. Lindsay was babbling and sobbing hysterically, and was therefore completely incomprehensible. At one point it sounded like she was reciting a bunch of statistics. When she hadn't stopped after five minutes, Gail covered her daughter's mouth with her hand.

"Lindsay Monroe, stop that this instant," she ordered in her best 'mom' voice. "You are going to work yourself into a fit. I'll take my hand away, but you have to tell me what's bothering you and you have to speak like a human. Ok?" Lindsay nodded through her tears. Once Gail removed her hand, she took a bunch of deep breaths and spoke.

"I can't do this, Momma…I just can't. For years I've been telling myself I'd never get married. I had all these reasons why it was a bad idea and I just can't stop thinking about them..."

"Well I've got one whopper of a reason why it's a good idea, and its named Danny. Not to mention the fact that you two adore each other!"

"I know that, but what if that isn't enough?" Lindsay said with a sob.

"Shh… there, there pumpkin," she whispered as she held her little girl. "I understand-you're scared. That's normal. And you're also feeling a little guilty, am I right?" Lindsay nodded. "You have no reason whatsoever to feel guilty- wherever Tom is I'm sure he's incredibly happy for you right now. It's alright to feel a twinge of sadness that you two never got this day but do not feel guilty for moving on with your life. And as for being scared, marriage is kind of scary. You're pledging yourself to one person for the rest of your life! And for some people, it doesn't work out. But you and Danny aren't going to be one of those couples. I know just know it."

"But how?" Lindsay cried. Her mind was analytical and she needed reasons. Fortunately, Gail was prepared.

"First, you and Danny remind me of your father and me when we were young and look at us-married 40 years this summer. Second, you two are both too damned stubborn to quit anything, let alone something as important as this. And third, you're completely crazy about each other: a marriage with as much love and much passion as you two have just has to work out. Otherwise the whole universe makes no sense."

"You really think so?" Lindsay sniffled.

"Of course I do! What kind of mother lies to her child?" Gail said with a snort.

"You told me Santa Clause and the Easer Bunny were real," Lindsay reminded her with a small smile.

Gail waved her hand dismissively. "That wasn't lying, that was… making childhood more fun! Now let's wipe those tears and finish getting you ready."

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Danny was pacing anxiously in front of the church. He was nervous, but he wasn't in danger of having a meltdown. He'd already had his freak-out earlier, when he, Tony, and Flack were in his apartment getting into their tuxedos.

Tony had made a joke about forgetting the rings and the reality of the situation finally fit him- he was getting married. Him. Danny Messer. Married. This led to a vision where Father Bill was giving the 'speak now or forever hold your peace' bit- the church doors flew open and a horde of women stampeded down the aisle. It was all the women he'd dated or otherwise hooked up with and they were all screaming at him: 'You're a sleaze! You slept with me and never called me again!' 'I loved you and you just broke my heart!' 'You screwed my roommate when we were still dating!' 'You fucked me and never even knew my name!' It just went on and on and Lindsay was looking at him in disgust. She dropped her bouquet, cried 'A leopard never changes its spots, Messer!' and ran away from him. He had snapped out of his hellish daydream and started hyperventilating.

Flack very calmly pulled a folded paper bag out of his pocket. "I was expecting this," he said to Tony as he handed it to Danny. "Here buddy. Deep breaths. In and out. In and out." When Danny's breathing returned to normal, he sank to the floor in despair.

"Get up, you're gonna wrinkle your tux," Tony chided as he pulled his cousin to his feet.

"What am I doing? Guys like me don't get married. I'm not husband material. I'm not even boyfriend material. I'm a player, a thug. I can't let Montana marry a thug," he groaned.

"Shaddup. You aren't a player anymore. And you were never a thug. So quit your bitching," Flack ordered.

Danny was banging his head against the wall while muttering "Stupid! Stupid!" _What are you thinking, a nice girl like her being happy with a guy like you? You're going to ruin her life…_

Tony grabbed his cousin by the shoulders and pulled him away from the wall. "Stop that. You are going to give yourself a concussion and then your Montana is gonna kick my ass. Now don't go getting an inferiority complex now, Danny. Yeah, you have a past. But Lindsay is ok with that. And if she's ok with it, you should be too."

"Monroe's a real bright gal. If she thinks you're husband material, I'd believe her. After all, she's a lot smarter than you," Flack had offered. And for some reason, that calmed Danny down.

So now he was just waiting for Lindsay to walk down that aisle and change his life forever. And deep in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but worry that she was going to panic more than he did and take off. To take his mind off such unsettling thoughts, he glanced around the church. Jess was standing off to the side with her camcorder, ready to record the entire event for posterity. The pews were filled- Hawkes and Mac were ushers and in their slightly OCD way they'd managed to keep both sides of the church balanced so his lack of relatives wasn't that noticeable. And Stella had done her job well, too- the decorations were beautiful but not overdone. _Not that I'd know a gardenia from an azalea but those flowers do look nice…_He grinned when he realized that the white flowers plus the dark blue ribbons were the colors of his beloved team. _I know Stella didn't do that on purpose but I'm gonna take it as a good omen anyway…_

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Stella knocked on the door just as Ashley finished her older sister's make-up. "Lindsay, you look stunning!" she exclaimed as her eyes filled with tears. Lindsay's dress was a classic A-line shape and there was the subtlest of beading on the square-necked bodice.

Lindsay jumped up to give her Maid of Honor a careful hug. "So do you!"

Stella gave a little laugh as she twirled. "Benefits to picking out the bridesmaids' dress yourself." She'd opted for a strapless, calf-length dress in a navy blue that looked great on her and Ashley. "Are you all ready?" Lindsay nodded.

"Wait a sec," Ashley said. "Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. You got it all, sis?"

Lindsay fingered the necklace that Danny had given her, the necklace she always wore. "This is old and has a sapphire, which is blue. My veil and dress are new. Borrowed…. um…well, shit." _I want this marriage to work too much to jinx it with something so silly as this..._

Her little sister's face lit up. "I thought you'd need help with that one." She reached into her make-up bag and pulled out a little box. "Here, you can wear this but I want it back!" Lindsay opened the box to find the bracelet their grandmother had given to Ashley on her 16th birthday.

"Aw, thanks Ax!" Lindsay said as her sister fastened the bracelet of tiny pearls. "Ok, Stella, now I'm ready."_ Rationally speaking, I know there's no truth to these old superstitions but better safe than sorry!_

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Danny scanned the sea of faces, getting lots of waves and encouraging smiles. He noticed Gail hurrying to her seat and he sighed in relief. _If Montana had bolted, Gail wouldn't look so happy._ He moved into his position next to Tony and Flack (who both gave him thumbs up signs) and looked expectantly towards the back of the church.

The doors opened and first came Jeanie, who looked ecstatically adorable as she scattered flowers everywhere and waved to everybody. Ashley came next, followed by Stella. But Danny had paid hardly any attention to the first three ladies to come down the aisle. When he finally saw Lindsay standing there, holding Hank's arm, he was astounded- he had never seen her look more beautiful and radiant than she did in that moment. _She does look like an angel! Not that I doubted it…_When the organist started playing that famous wedding march and Lindsay started moving towards him, he almost passed out. His expression as Lindsay walked down the aisle was one of delirious joy and awe, and Lindsay's grin matched his own. When Lindsay kissed Hank's cheek and moved to take Danny's arm instead, he had to blink back tears. Lindsay did, too.

"Wow, Montana," he muttered to her as they moved towards Father Bill.

"Ditto," Lindsay muttered back. As she'd suspected, Danny looked incredible in a tuxedo. And despite the seriousness of the occasion, part of her wanted him to suavely say 'Messer, Danny Messer' then carry her off somewhere to ravish her. _Down, girl! Focus! _

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's greatest moments, to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, and to add our best wishes to the words which shall unite Daniel and Lindsay in marriage." Lindsay reached for Danny's hand and squeezed it tight.

"Should there be anyone who has cause why this couple should not be united in marriage, they must speak now or forever hold their peace." Father Bill paused and Danny clenched his jaw nervously. His shoulders visibly relaxed as Father Bill continued with the ceremony. Flack noticed Danny's reaction and choked back a laugh. _Like anybody would say anything, Messer! Not only is there no good reason why you shouldn't marry her, everybody knows that you'd frickin' annihilate the person who tried to keep you from being with 'Montana.' _

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"Lindsay Ann Monroe, do you take Daniel to be your lawfully-wedded husband? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," she said happily as tears ran down her face. _Thank you, universe!_

"Daniel Vincent Messer, do you take Lindsay to be your lawfully-wedded wife? Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." His grin would have been visible from outer space. _Holy shit! This is really happening! YES!_

They exchanged rings. "Danny and Lindsay, in so much as the two of you have promised your love for each other by these vows and the giving of these rings, I now declare you to be husband and wife." A few of the tears Danny had been fighting back broke free at this point. "God bless you both. You may now kiss the bride."

Danny didn't need to be told twice.

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The couple passed through a mob of their friends and families blowing bubbles to get into the limo that was waiting for them outside the church. They were headed somewhere to take wedding pictures but that's not what either of them were really interested in at the moment. This was the only time they'd have alone together for the next few hours and they intended on milking it for all it was worth.

"God I love my wife," Danny murmured right before his mouth crashed down onto hers. He wanted her, but he more than that he wanted to cuddle and stroke her hair and coo sweet nonsense into her ear. And his spouse was of a similar opinion. He had to hold her very carefully so he didn't mess up her dress or veil but they still got what they wanted, for a few moments at least.

A thump on Danny's window startled them out of their blissful activity. They hadn't even noticed the car had stopped.

"Yo, Messers! We're here. Stop steaming up the windows and get out. Its picture time," Flack called to them from outside the limo.

"Dammit," Danny muttered. "Just a second!" he called out to Flack and the others who were waiting. He distinctly heard Flack chuckle and he thought he heard Tony make a joke.

Lindsay was reapplying her lipstick and smoothing out her dress. Danny grabbed her hand before she opened the door.

"I didn't tell you how amazing you look, babe. Seriously, you look…" he trailed off as he realized there were no words to describe her.

Lindsay beamed at him and kissed him softly. "Thanks, hon. You look pretty…." She paused and made a face indicating she, too, had no words "…yourself."

"Linds, when I saw you come through those doors I just about died. Hand to god, my heart stopped for a second."

"That's funny because my heart was going a thousand beats a minute when I saw you in front of the altar. Thanks for showing up, by the way."

"Wild hippopotamuses, Montana. I told you."

Once they finally emerged from the 'limo of love,' as Flack dubbed it, they realized they were in a riverside park in Brooklyn.

"What better backdrop could you have for your wedding pictures than the New York City skyline?" she asked proudly as Dave from AV posed the duo. "Just look at that bridge!" She then whipped out her cell to call the hotel where the reception was taking place to make sure things were ready and hurried away, high heels clacking.

"I dunno, some wheat would be just as nice," Danny said softly.

Lindsay laughed. "I knew you were impressed, even if you didn't say so then."

The photo shoot took longer than anyone had expected because bride and groom wouldn't stop with their spontaneous displays of affection for very long. Dave just laughed and kept shooting when Danny grabbed Lindsay and spun in a circle while kissing her for the umpteenth time- he was going to have tons of great candid shots of the happy couple in addition to the posed ones.

Several rolls later, the bridal party had been adequately captured on film and it was time to head to the reception. Stella ran up to them before they got back into the limo.

"I talked to your driver and he's going to park here for a few minutes and then take the longer way back so that we can get ready for you. You'll find a way to keep yourselves entertained as you wait, I'm sure," she asked with a wink and a smile.

She was right.

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A/N2: I was completely stumped about vows for quite a long time- seriously, I had everything written except for the vows part for quite some time. I wrote a bunch of shit but nothing felt "right"- the funny/sentimental debate had no winner. So I cheated and had them not write their own vows. Forgive me. If you'd like, you can imagine them saying what YOU always thought they'd say to each other. I'm sorry it's not as good as I wanted it to be, but its been such a long time I suspect its not going to get better anytime soon.

PS: Next chapter should be funny if everything goes according to plan! Can't promise when it'll be up but it WON'T take as long as this chap did. Cross my heart and hope to die.


	36. Chapter 36

_No excuses. I just suck. Forgive me. Enjoy:_

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CLINK CLINK CLINK. Stella tapped her fork against her champagne glass to get everyone's attention. "Toast time, people!"

"This'll be short, because otherwise I'll tear up and I don't want to ruin my make-up. And besides, I think Donnie is chomping at the bit to give HIS toast. I'd be worried, Dan," she winked.

"Oh, I am," Danny called out as he scowled at Flack.

"We all love Danny and Lindsay, that's why we're here. And instead of telling them how much we love them, I have something to give the bride and groom on behalf of the NYPD and the crime lab. Now we know we were supposed to donate money to the canine unit to buy vests and fund their little doggy retirements… but as most of us already give to that anyway, we decided to all chip in for your 'nest egg.'" She nodded to Hawkes, who proudly produced a giant check from under the table and handed it to a stunned Lindsay. "This way you can bump the baby timetable up a bit. You two have to start on that brood of little ones so we can all spoil the hell out of them." She grinned broadly. "To quote a certain detective, 'start with the spawning already!'" Everybody laughed, especially after Flack raised his hand to take credit for the quip.

"Let me tell you, it wasn't hard to collect money, even from people outside the lab," Stella continued. "Not because everybody loves you both because frankly Danny, you're hardly the most popular person in the NYPD… especially among certain departments who shall not be named on such a happy day." She winked again at the young cop who had made waves with IA so many times. "Once we let people know what you two could potentially bring into the world, people who don't even know you felt inspired to chip in." Quick as lightning, Hawkes withdrew an easel from beneath the table and unfolded it, then pulled out a giant picture. It featured two computer-generated faces: a young man and a young woman. "Gorgeous, aren't they? This is what your kids might look like."

They were gorgeous- the male had his mother's face but with his father's eyes while the girl had Danny's smile and light hair with Lindsay's beautiful dark eyes. "Isn't technology wonderful? And these are viable possibilities, genetically speaking. Linds, obviously your eyes and hair are dominant but I checked out your family and you have recessive traits for blue eyes and blonde hair from your mother. Anyway, it wasn't hard to convince people that their contributions would help the greater good and all of humanity- you two are going to have works of art! Anyway, we just can't wait three years for you to have such good-looking children. So hopefully this check will speed things along. Congratulations you two." She lifted her glass. "To Danny and Lindsay and their beautiful offspring!"

Stella smiled at her newly-wed friends as everybody toasted the shocked couple. She'd collected more money than she'd ever imagined. Of course, anytime an envelope works its way around the NYPD, collecting money for retirements or whatever, a lot of people stuff a few bucks in without even knowing what they're contributing to. Still, many people had willingly given generously for this specific cause. Mac alone had contributed quite a big chunk of change all by himself. "No sense in me just saving all my money, Stella," he'd told her as he'd handed her a check and sworn her to secrecy. "I'll never have children. Hell, I'll probably never retire." As much as Stella wanted to argue with him, she knew he was right- despite Peyton's influence Mac was still too devoted to/obsessed with his job to have a family. As were many of her coworkers, for that matter. Which is why so many people were willing to chip in to the Messer Baby Fund, even those who didn't know the couple very well. The hours that the Crime Lab demanded made personal lives tricky- for starters, it was difficult to meet people (well, people who weren't criminals) and if somehow you did meet somebody, it was usually hard to hold onto them. So a lot of the CSIs and techs had just accepted their single status (though a few dared to hope that they too would find true love with a coworker) and were hoping to vicariously parent through Danny and Lindsay.

Stella's grin widened as visions of little NYPD onesies filled her head.

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Danny eyed his big friend nervously. He'd been happily surprised by Stella's speech, but he doubted that any 'surprises' Flack had up his sleeve would make him happy…Flack caught Danny's wary look and grinned evilly at the groom before standing.

"First of all, let me say I'm happy for Danny and Lindsay and I wish them the best of luck. But I gotta tell you something…part of me is seriously thinking that the NYPD oughta rethink its policy about fraternization within the ranks, 'cuz I think it's gonna bring down the whole force….Let me explain!" he added as he looked out onto a room of rolled eyes. "I mean, these two are still great investigators but this whole mushy love/getting married thing has made them soft, in my not-so-humble opinion. They used to be a pair of real bad-asses, pardon my language. Now they're nothing more than fluffy shells of their former tough selves. Which is a DAMN shame."

"I mean, take Lindsay here. She used to be one tough little cookie- tackling guys on her very first day, eating fried bugs, sweatin' perps in the interrogation room…and she carries a knife. She taught me that country girls are not to be messed with. And hey, moving to NYC from cowpoke land is a sign of strength in my book. Plus, back when she first moved here I heard this girl- who's what, 5 foot nothing and weighs 50 lbs?- heckle the ENTIRE New York sports franchise-we're talking every single team- …in a sports bar…in New York. If that's not badass, I dunno what is."

"And Danny Messer…Danny the cocky, so-called 'street smart' city guy. Danny who was this close to being a hooligan as a kid- don't worry, Monroe family- the only thing he ever got in trouble for was graffiti. By the way, man, 'Danny-gerous' is the worst tag name I have EVER heard… But Messer of the loud mouth and quick temper, Mr. 'Hell YEAH I'll leap across alleyways and tackle guys on moving motorcycles to make an arrest' has gone soft on me! I'm not just saying this- I've done some investigating," he added as he pulled out his detectives' notebook from the inside pocket of his tux and held it up in the air, causing people to chuckle. "And I swear it's the truth. Allow me to build my case."

He flipped the notebook open. "Here are just a few of the nicknames they've been overheard calling each other- oh this goes way beyond Montana, people. Ahem: baby, babe, cowboy, sweetie, honey, darling, mi amor, tiger, princess, cupcake, muffin, honey bunny…" As the list went on it got cheesier and more outrageous and people starting laughing harder and harder and the newlyweds turned redder and redder "…angel, sweet baboo, cutie patootie, pookie, schmoopy, ladybug, snickerdoodle, Dannybear, and last but not least snugglewumpkins." Flack shook his head in amazement. "Dannybear and snugglewumpkins from what used to be two hardboiled CSIs! It's a damn shame. But, unfortunately, the problem goes much deeper." He strode over to where Danny and Lindsay were sitting and paced back and forth behind them for a while, then suddenly slammed the table in front of Lindsay with his fist, causing her to jump.

"Mrs. Messer! Isn't it true that you, a born and raised Broncos fan, now root for the Giants because that's Danny's team?"

"No!" cried Joe sadly as Lindsay nodded her head. She at least had the presence of mind to look a little ashamed.

"And Mr. Messer- isn't it also true that you, of your own free will, have attended the ballet and the opera? And that you skipped seeing a St. John's basketball game- if you remember, that's your alma mater-to take Lindsay to see 'Phantom of the Opera'? A playoff game, in fact?" Danny just crossed his arms and shrugged as his college buddies hissed at the memory of him committing such an egregious taboo.

"Lindsay, reliable sources tell me that you've confessed to staying off the expert trails when going skiing these days because they 'make Danny worry so much about you getting hurt.' What do you have to say for yourself?" Lindsay just laughed, her face a little red with embarrassment. "Oh you think that's funny? I think it's sad- just one more sign that you're not nearly as tough as you used to be and it's all Danny's fault.

"And Danny here doesn't do nearly as many stupid stunts at work because he knows that you worry- just last week he balked at jumping across a gap between rooftops when he was pursuing a suspect. It wasonly a 10 foot gap over a measly 8 stories. The old Messer would have done it." Danny muttered something. "Hey, I didn't jump because I've always left that crazy stuff to you! You're just lucky that we had some rookies with us who were eager to prove themselves. Love has made you weak, bud. You actually consider the possibility that you might get hurt or die before you do stuff these days. Daniel Messer, using his head? No longer operating solely on impulse? A damn shame."

Flack went back to his seat and started to sit, then got back up and headed back over to the couple. "There was just one more thing…" Danny looked up at him suspiciously- the Columbo reference was not lost on him. "Swing dance classes?!?! Are you freakin' KIDDING me?!? What the HELL happened to you, Messer?!?" Everybody started laughing loudly as Danny paled and turned to Lindsay with a pained expression. "Hey, don't blame her, man. She didn't tell a soul. You two try to leave early on Tuesdays and you always get this look of sheer dread whenever anybody asks where you're headed. And I know a bullshit excuse when I hear one. So I tailed you one night. They're pretty good, actually," he informed the flabbergasted crowd. Hawkes looked like you could knock him over with a feather and even the unflappable Mac Taylor seemed surprised: Danny, who had challenged an outranking officer to a fight, who had been written up for mouthing off his superiors more than once, who was notorious for bending rules that shouldn't be bent, took dance classes?

People were laughing harder now, especially after Danny turned even redder and had slowly slid under the table to hide. Flack just spread his arms wide and made a face that read 'Am I good or what?' _Messer'll will probably try to kill me now, but it was worth it! _He proudly took his seat and buffed his fingernails against his shirt.

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When Danny didn't reemerge after a minute, Lindsay joined him.

"It's not THAT bad, honey," she said reassuringly.

"In what universe is this 'not that bad'? My reputation is ruined! Flack is right- I have gone soft! And now everybody knows!" He groaned and buried his face in his hands. He was murmuring to himself and hard to understand, but Lindsay did catch the words "twinkletoes" and "sissy."

"Danny Messer, stop being such a drama queen. You're an investigator: what's one of the facts of life that we run into time and time again? People will do crazy, out-of-character things when they're in love. Everybody out there knows that. You haven't gone soft and neither have I. We've… evolved. Improved., even. I don't think that you being a little more cautious is going to make you bad at your job- it's usually a good thing when a CSI uses his head. I couldn't always do the thinking for both of us, babe." Danny's head jerked up to scowl at his smart-ass wife. Lindsay stuck her tongue out at him and gave him a brief peck on the lips.

"Anyway, don't worry about it," she continued. "Odds are they'll only be laughing about this for another two weeks and fortunately, we're headed to Europe tomorrow so we won't even be around for it! So buck up, cowboy. You'll live. And remember, after your bachelor party people know a lot of other things about our relationship-things that could hardly be considered threats to your masculinity." She cocked an eyebrow at him and was rewarded with a small smile from her new husband. Which quickly turned into a glower.

"I'm still gonna KILL Flack!" Danny growled.

"If you kill him, you can't get revenge," she pointed out.

"Oh, I dunno, choppin' him into itty bitty pieces and then throwin' the pieces in the Hudson would be revenge enough for me."

"But it probably wouldn't feel as good as mortifying him. First of all, for all his bragging about being a Casanova, one day Don'll probably get married and you get to give HIS toast. Second, you're Danny Messer: you're great at planning pranks. And I'll help- between the two of us we should be able to come up with an appropriately awful punishment for Donny. Two CSIs against one detective- he doesn't stand a chance. How's that sound?"

The wicked grin she knew and loved was back. They both climbed back into their seats…well, after a few more minutes anyway.

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_Ok, some excuses. The main one being writer's block, the second one being I stopped watching CSI:NY for a while. I got fed up with the stunts. I still think Carmine is sex on legs but I just couldn't take the mediocrity anymore (as well as an appalling lack of Flack). So I'll confess I was just going to abandon this story. But then I started reading FF again and I was getting REALLY annoyed with people who weren't updating. And I knew it would be hypocritical as HELL to ask them to finish their stories when I left so many people hanging. You should all be happy I have a highly attuned sense of guilt, because it's why I'm updating finally! _

_There's not much more to come- just the rest of the wedding and the wedding night (woot!). I also have ideas for frolicking through Europe. I still won't update as prompt as I'd like but I swear on all that I hold dear I won't leave this story as a stray…_

_Basically, what I'm saying is you all need to have (wait for it, wait for it) PATIENCE. _

_I crack myself up._


	37. Chapter 37

Hawkes dropped his fork and pushed his plate away. "Wow, that was great! Remind me to thank Sid for hooking us up."

"I think Lindsay and Danny already are," Mac pointed out with his fork. The couple was going around to all the different tables as their guests ate greeting their friends and family. And right now Lindsay was giving the medical examiner a bear hug.

"Speaking of Sid, who knew his wife was so hot?" Flack asked, dumbfounded. "How did he get a woman like that? I mean, he's a nice guy and all but he can be kinda creepy."

Mac shrugged. "One man's creepy is another woman's quirky. There's somebody for everybody out there, Don. And Sid is a very lucky man."

"And his daughters are so pretty, too!" Stella pointed out, looking over at the table Sid was sharing with some other people from the ME's office.

"Glad somebody else pointed it out," Flack said. "Cuz if I had said it, I'd be the creepy one."

Peyton rolled her eyes at him. "Don, they're barely in their 20s."

"So what! It's not like I'm gonna hit on 'em or anything. And I just said their mother is hot and she's gotta be over 40! I don't believe in age discrimination when it comes to beautiful women. I mean, Sharon Stone is how old but I'd still totally…"

"New topic!" Stella said as she elbowed Flack in the side. "Do you smell what I smell?"

Hawkes wrinkled his nose. "Asparagus? Rosemary? Chicken _ballotine_?"

Stella sighed. "Well, yes. But I was talking about vindication! It's in the air tonight for Stella Bonasera!" She looked around the table but received nothing but blank expressions from her friends. "IF you recall, at the end of Lindsay's very first week with us I was saying that one day we'd be hearing wedding bells for her and Danny. I saw the sparks that were flying between them and I just knew, knew that theirs would be a deep and enduring love. And do you know what kind of response I got?" she asked Peyton, who just shook her head.

"Sheldon Hawkes, bazillion IQ, scoffed. Donald Flack, seasoned detective, rolled his eyes and made a joke. And the brilliant Mac Taylor, who knows so much about people, gave a little snort and said 'I seriously doubt that.' And yet here we sit, at their wedding." She had a very smug smile on her face.

Flack felt the need to defend himself and his 'seasoned' detective abilities. "C'mon, Stella, the first few months Lindsay was here she and Danny had a severe case of sibling rivalry. They each wanted to prove to 'Daddy' here," he jerked a thumb at Mac "that they were the better CSI. They didn't get along at ALL. So your thinking that they were gonna fall in love and live happily ever after was a bit far-fetched."

"And you're forgetting that we were all rooting for them to get together for a long time, too," Hawkes added.

"But you were all late boarders to the Danny/Lindsay-relationship ship," Stella pointed out. "I was the first to predict this day. And my excellent insight was brushed off entirely."

"We apologize for not recognizing your wondrous intuition earlier, Stella. You were right, I was wrong." Mac had a small smile as he said the words he knew his good friend was longing to hear.

"Dammit! I should have had a tape recorder ready. I don't know if I can count on one hand how many times you've said that, Mac," Stella noted.

She burst out laughing when Mac, after a moment's thought, held up four fingers.

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"I've never been hugged this often in my entire life," Danny muttered as they left another table of well-wishers. "I think Zau cracked my rib," he added with a small wince. He looked to see who was next in line to be greeted and his eyebrows shot up. "Oh boy…"

"Is that our little Danny-boy? All grown up and looking so handsome?" a woman with dyed black hair exclaimed before kissing both his cheeks.

"Can't be, Lydia," answered a woman with a giant bouffant. "Danny is still a baby and is definitely not old enough to be getting married, because if he is I don't want to think about how old that makes me." She too kissed his cheeks.

The third woman-a very large woman with even bigger hair- grabbed him in a bear hug. "Of course this is our Danny-boy! You look so much like your father. Not your coloring of course but your face."

"Hi, Aunt Rosie," Danny said to the woman who was still hugging him. "And hey Aunt Lydia, Aunt Frannie. Thanks for coming."

"Like we'd miss this!" Frannie sniffed. "I know we haven't been in touch for a long time but on a day like today it's important for family to be there. We wouldn't have missed it for the world."

Rosie finally let go of him and grabbed Lindsay. "Aren't you ADORABLE? You're just an itty bitty little thing, aren't you? A tiny, cute thing like you can't work in that nasty crime lab, can you?"

"Don't patronize the poor girl on her wedding day, Rosie," one of the other women chided. "I'm your Aunt Lydia, by the way. Welcome to the family." And Lindsay was promptly kissed by all three sisters.

"This is my 'date,' Ted Green," Lydia said with a sly smile as she seized the arm of the young man who was with them. "Isn't he cute?" she exclaimed as she pinched his butt. Lindsay choked back a laugh at the indignities the Federal Agent was being subjected to. _That's life as a rookie, though. Been there, done that. And I bet this guy would gladly dumpster-dive or wade through a pool of lubricant right about now- anything to be someplace other than here._

"Does Uncle Paulie know about your 'date' Aunt Lids?" Danny asked with a sly smile of his own.

She answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I told him I was trading him in for a younger model. And speaking of your uncle, he sends his congratulations," Lydia informed him.

"The whole family does, Danny," Rosie told him. Danny's eyebrows shot up, so Rosie hurriedly continued. "They still aren't pleased with your…career choice," she arched a brow meaningfully at him and glanced quickly at Agent Green, who was listening intently. "But they are happy you're thinking about starting a family. It's always a good thing when more Messers come into the world. And they're proud of you, actually." Danny's eyebrows shot up even further, as did Lindsay's.

Frannie shrugged. "Don't be so surprised. We're your family and we love you no matter what. And we're proud that you're successful. We know you've gotten in trouble a few times- hell, you're a Messer! But we also that you haven't been in trouble for a while now and that people think you're good at what you do. Which makes us all proud of you- especially since so many of your cousins are failures," she said with a small sigh. "My youngest boy is back in jail again, in case you didn't know. He should have done what you and Tony Jr. did and gone off to school. Of course, he was always too stupid for school- like his father, that one." She sighed again. "

"You knew Fred was as dumb as a brick wall when you married him," Lydia chided her sister. "So you can't complain about it. Lindsay dear, there will be things you can change about your husband- and from what that tall detective said you've already made good progress- but part of a happy marriage is accepting that there are certain things you CAN'T change and loving them for it. Is our Danny still stubborn as hell?" Lindsay laughed and nodded. "That's not going to change. He's a Messer, it's in his, whaddaya-call-it, DNA."

"Trust me Aunt Lids, it's in the Monroe genetic code, too. Big time," Danny said with a laugh, then saw Lindsay glaring up at him. "And I love it, babe! It's one of your cutest traits. In anyone else it'd be a flaw but in my Montana, it's perfection." He kissed her hand and gave her his best puppy-dog eyes.

"Oooh, you've got him well-trained, dear. That can't have been easy to do," Rosie said with an admiring smile. "Anyway, we'd have brought you a wedding present but we were informed that it'd be a bad idea. Apparently family members can't give presents to other family members without it seeming like a bribe or something. She glared at Agent Green, who just held his hands up with a "let's not argue about this again" expression.

"It's really alright. You being here is present enough," Lindsay said. "It's so nice to meet more of Danny's family."

"I'm thrilled you're here," Danny added. "It's really great to see you three. And you don't look like you've aged a day since the last time I saw you!" Danny added. _Thanks to gallons and gallons of Clairol and a truckload of Botox, I suppose…_

"You always were a charmer, Danny-boy," Frannie said with a smile as she pinched his cheeks. "He gets that from his father, you know," she told Lindsay. "Messer men could charm paint off the walls."

"We've kept you too long from your other guests and Agent Green too long from his chicken. You better eat, boy," Lydia said to the Fed with a wink. "You're going to need some fuel for when the dancing starts!"

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Of course, according to Stella the dancing couldn't start until Lindsay and Danny had done the traditional opening dance. More than a few guests' eyes welled up as the two CSIs swayed gracefully to Ella Fitzgerald's "At Last"- the newly married couple looked so ecstatic and so adoringly at one another it was hard not to get choked up. And as the last few notes of the song faded away, Adam's brother was supposed to put on the song Lindsay had requested for her dance with her father.

Instead, "In the Mood" came blaring through the speakers, completely ruining the moment but causing everyone present to burst into laughter. Well, everyone except Danny. He turned bright red, from embarrassment or anger (or a bit of both).

"C'mon, Messers!" Flack said into the microphone from the DJ's table. "Show us what you got!"

People laughed harder as Danny flipped off his friend, looked around at all his friends and coworkers laughing at him, and shrugged. He turned to his wife, winked, and proceeded to twirl her around. Flack hadn't been exaggerating- they were pretty good. Granted, it was hard with Lindsay in her long dress but they still managed to do a few of their flashier moves. When they were finished, the crowd was clapping and cheering. Danny was still pretending to scowl but Lindsay had to laugh. _Give Danny a chance to show off and he can't resist. My giant little boy. _

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The rest of the night passed in a pleasant manner, as was inevitable. You give a bunch of overworked public servants the night off and an open bar, they're going to have a good time. Add dancing, good friends, and a good reason to celebrate and there's no way things could go wrong. And the country folk mixed well with the city slickers: Ashley and Reed swapped stories about going to college in the "city" (as Ashley went to school in Billings), Danny's buddies quickly adopted Joe as a kindred spirit, and all the sports fans in Lindsay's family were happily debating various members of the NYPD. Jeanie was the belle of the ball, however- once Hawkes busted a move with her to "Twist and Shout" she wouldn't rest until she danced with every one of "Aunt Lindsay's men friends." By far, one of the highlights of the evening was Jeanie standing on Mac's feet, waltzing to "It Had to Be You." A sea of flashes went off as they worked their way around the floor, partially because it was so damn cute but mostly because people wanted proof that Mac Taylor had done something so cuddly.

The various romances that had been kindled by the Girl's first trip east were reignited for the night. Out on the dance floor Kirsten and Hawkes were graceful, Marty and Shelby were rowdy, and Flack and Marie were borderline obscene.

"I've heard of PDA before but this has got to be PDL," Hawkes quipped. When Kirsten cocked an eyebrow at him, he explained. "Public Displays of Lust." Right as he finished saying that, Marie grabbed Flack and pulled him off the floor and out of the room. They didn't return for an hour, looking exceedingly pleased with themselves and very rumpled.

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The time came for the newlyweds to depart, although everybody else intended on partying until the break of dawn (well, except the unlucky people who had to work the early shift). As planned, Lindsay threw the bouquet right at Tricia and nobody else tried to catch it. As she stood there, a bit surprised, she noticed a note tied to the stem. She read it, then started crying and laughing, and as she turned around Adam was right behind her on one knee with a ring. She pulled the lab tech (who was of course magenta) to his feet, shouted "OF COURSE!" and planted a great big kiss on him. Everybody cheered, and people's desire to stay and celebrate was even more fixed at this point.

"How many different drafts did he go through for this note, babe?" Lindsay whispered to Danny.

"Twenty-two," Danny whispered back, but he couldn't hide the pride from his voice._Nicely done, Lobster Boy…_

There was much hooting and hollering as Danny retrieved Lindsay's garter and launched it into the crowd and even more laughter when Mac caught it by reflex. Horrified, he threw it back up into the air, where Flack and Marty scrambled for it. Fortunately, Flack had a good 6 inches on the ME and came away with the prize. Everyone was so busy watching the festivities that no one realized Danny hadn't removed his hand from his wife's thigh.

"Whaddaya say we blow this Popsicle stand, Montana?" he asked as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"I'd say that sounds like the best idea you've ever had, cowboy," she answered, mimicking his expression.

"Nah, that prize goes to deciding to do everything in my power to make you mine, sweetheart." _Deciding not to take no for an answer the day of the vodka case, deciding to be patient. Nicely done, Messer. _

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_AN:_ _Wedding night is next_. _Hopefully you won't have to wait TOO too long for it. _


	38. Chapter 38

AN: _I'm the worst person ever. No excuses could possibly serve, so I won't offer any but just say I'm so sorry for making you wait. If anyone is still reading/waiting, that is!_

_Admittedly, this is not my best chapter. But I figured it was better than no resolution._

"Goodbye!" "Bon voyage!" "Have a great time!" "Bring me a present!"

The felicitations of their friends rang in their ears as Danny and Lindsay's limo pulled away to take them to the hotel where Tony and Jess had gotten them a honeymoon suite as a present. They were also going to pick them up in the morning and drive them to the airport to catch their flight to France, but neither Danny nor Lindsay were thinking about their travels at this moment in time. There were things even more pleasant than the Mediterranean on their minds.

Danny carried Lindsay into the room, spun in a circle, and headed right towards the bed, where he placed her gently down. And was at an immediate loss as to how to get at his wife through all that dress. _This is like prom night all over again…well, the veil is different. _But Lindsay had already spotted the overnight bag she'd asked Jess to drop off earlier today and had scooted off the bed towards the bathroom.

"Montana, you can't leave me! It's our wedding night!"

"Hold your horses, cowboy. Patience is a virtue and trust me, it'll be worth it." And she shut the bathroom door in his face.

Danny spent an antsy ten minutes pacing around the suite, checking out the minibar, fiddling with the radio, and praying that Montana would just hurry up already. When she finally emerged, though, she knocked the breath right out of him. _Yeah, it was worth the wait. _She was wearing something white and gauzy that defied all description but made her look like a complete goddess. There were stockings involved, which pleased him to no end. And and AND she had on a white cowboy hat. _Holy shit, holy shit…wait, I can think of something nicer to say than THAT…_

"Lindsay Messer, you are the most stunning woman ever to walk the earth. No doubt about it-I am the luckiest person alive."

Lindsay had actually been thinking the same thing about her new husband, who was still wearing his tux. The bowtie was untied around his neck, which somehow made him look even better. _How on earth did I end up with this incredibly hot man as MY husband? Men like him are supposed to end up with tall blonde Brazilian supermodels. _She beamed as she strode sexily towards him. _I'M the luckiest person alive. _

Danny's eyes had a familiar gleam in them as he wrapped her in his arms and swept her off her feet. He purposely strode towards the bed and gently placed her back on it. "Now where were we, my magnificent Mrs. Montana Monroe-Messer?" His hand was back on her leg but where there was once tons of satin, there was now just a wisp of stocking. As he toyed with the top of her garter, he happily gazed at his wife. She in turn was running her fingers through his hair and lovingly looking up at him. She sighed happily and kissed him gently.

"Make love to me, husband." He didn't need to be told twice.

They'd gotten their crazy boot-knocking out of their system two nights earlier (well, not entirely out-that would probably never happen) and on such a momentous occasion as a wedding night Danny didn't exactly want to be handcuffed to the bed. So he kissed his wife back, gently and softly, first on her lips, then on her neck, then on her shoulder. He paused to slowly unbutton his shirt, laughing at the way Lindsay greedily watched him do so. When he shrugged off his tank top, Lindsay put her hand on his chest and actually purred in delight. _I can't believe this is mine! _

"You're pretty amazing yourself, young lady," he muttered as he slipped the strap of her negligee off her shoulder and resumed his ministrations. Lindsay's purring stopped and turned into a moan. Soon Danny was moaning too. _Ohmygod, how does she always know just what to do to make me feel like that? I don't deserve this. _

Soon the world moved and they were both calling out each other's name. Not shouting, like they usually did- now it was more reverent. Their love-making had been emotional and special before, but nothing had come close to the bond they'd had tonight.

"Wow, Montana," Danny panted as he rolled off of her. "Just…wow."

"Ditto." She was exhausted but ecstatic. "Oh, since you were on top the whole time I didn't get a chance to show you your wedding gift." Her eyes twinkled as she rolled onto her stomach, displaying to Danny his 4th favorite part of her body (#3 was what most straight men like quite a lot, #2 was her eyes, and #1 was of course her brain). There, right there on the right cheek were the words 'Property of Danny.' He laughed loudly.

"Holy shit, Montana! Is that real?" _Better not be- not after she told me what a curse it is and besides, it kinda spoils the view!_

"Of course not! I found a place that does customized temporary tattoos. I have a whole heap of them now- maybe I'll wear one every year on our anniversary. I've got some for you, too. They say 'Property of Lindsay' and one is going right here." She jokingly slapped her 5th favorite part of HIS body. "And maybe here." She gently caressed #3, which twitched and made Danny moan once more.

"God, you're amazing. This is fantastic." He stared at her ass some more and gently caressed the words there. It was silly, but it was also touching. "Don't forget, one goes here, too." He held her hand over his heart.

"I know." _Let me show you that Danny is written over my heart, too…_

Afterwards, as he held her in his arms and looked down at his exhausted but stunning wife, he was stuck by how lucky he was. He hadn't met the woman of his dreams: he met the woman he should have been dreaming of but didn't know he wanted. She'd made him change into a better, more mature man, and he'd helped her become a better, stronger woman. The emotions that were welling up in him were overwhelming. _Holy shit, I might just cry if I'm not careful. _

"Is it possible to die of happiness?" he whispered.

Lindsay's nose curled up as she thought. "Yes. I read about it. Too intense emotions can on very rare occasions lead to cardiac arrest." She smiled and kissed her husband's forehead. "If that happens tonight, I won't care. I'll die a very happy woman!"

"You're not getting out of your wedding vows that easy, woman. Yes, it's 'till death do us part' but I'm not letting you die on me anytime soon. We've got hopefully 70 years of wedded bliss ahead of us-thank you, science & technology!"

She chuckled and looked deep into his eyes. "You've got a deal, Cowboy." As they stared at each other, the impossible did happen: Danny's eyes got all misty. But so did Lindsay's. Soon they were both crying tears of joy while also laughing happily and holding on tightly to each other.

"We're going to be like this for the rest of our lives, Danny Messer. Just you wait. You'll always make me feel this way. There's no way this much love could ever fade." _I can't believe I ever doubted this feeling. I'm so sure now._

"It's gonna grow, Montana. Just you watch. Boom: growing." _Just enjoy the ride, Danny Messer. You don't deserve this kinda of life but somehow you ended up in Heaven. Enjoy the ride._

And they lived happily ever after. Not Disney happy, not sitcom happy. Actual marriage happy: some major fights and obstacles that they didn't think they'd get through but ultimately did. They laughed about those times later at their Golden Anniversary, years after they'd both retired (Lindsay had eventually taken over Mac's job) and surrounded by their 3 kids, many grandchildren, and all the friends that were still with them.

Flack had given another mortifying toast. Danny didn't even get angry.

THE END.


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